Lino
Masculine · “flax”
Lino is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 4,188 boys against 6 girls since 1880.
Lino is the Italian and Spanish of Linus, and Linus in Greek myth was a music teacher killed by Heracles for correcting him.
How old is the name Lino?
Lino first appears in US birth records in 1904 — 121 years ago. The typical Lino alive today was born around 1985, making them about 40 years old. About 3,200 people named Lino are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lino most popular?
Lino peaked in 1966, reaching #1116 nationally. Today it ranks #2390, 1,274 places below that high. See the whole 1966 chart.
Where it comes from
From Linos to Lino
The story of Lino
Linus taught Heracles the lyre and was killed with it for criticizing his playing — a story the Greeks told without much sympathy for either. A Linus was bishop of Rome after Peter. Italian and Spanish use Lino, which also means flax or linen. It appears in American records in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
flax; a lament
From the Greek Linos, generally connected to linon, 'flax', or to a lament called the linos song. The mythical Linus taught music; the first pope after Peter carried the name. Neither derivation is fully established. The Greek word is documented.
How the name formed
- Linos
- Linus
- Lino
Related forms: Lino · Lino · Linus
Pronouncing Lino
LEE-noh
Two syllables, stress on the first. Italian and Spanish say it identically.
Nicknames for Lino
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1904
- Most boys named
- 200665 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1116reached in 1966
- Change vs 2023
- −5.0%57 in 2025, from 60
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Lino in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lino in Italian — same name
- Lino in Spanish — same name
- Linus in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Linos among us
people named Lino are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 29,966 born in 2025 was named Lino
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Stanislaw test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Lino's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Stanislaw climbed just as high around 1911, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Stanislaw's path sketches the road Lino is walking now.
Lino sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Lino is headed
Lino looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 21% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Lino beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lino in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That Heracles killed his music teacher with the lyre is a first-rate story.
- The second pope carried the name.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- In Italian and Spanish it is also the word for linen.
- The etymology is genuinely unsettled.
- Linus is what English speakers will substitute.
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What they receive
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Lino
Masculine · #2390 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Linos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,200 people named Lino are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lino in 2025?
- Lino ranks #2390 among US boy names in 2025, with 57 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Lino?
- About 1 in every 29,966 US boys born in 2025 was named Lino — 57 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lino with classmates?
- Lino will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lino
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Quest#2390 · Jovanny#2390 · Ameen#2390 · Devante#2390 · Austyn#2390 · Deklan#2390 · Erwin#2390 · Blaize#2390
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lino? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lino and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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