Linsay
Feminine · “the island of Lincoln”
Linsay drops a letter from a Lincolnshire place name that became a Scottish surname and then an American first name, and the drop changes nothing. The English word its first syllable spells was a surgical dressing before it was household fluff.
How old is the name Linsay?
Linsay first appears in US birth records in 1976 — 49 years ago. The typical Linsay alive today was born around 1987, making them about 38 years old. About 700 people named Linsay are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Linsay most popular?
Linsay peaked in 1984, reaching #2018 nationally. See the whole 1984 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Lindesie to Linsay
The story of Linsay
Lint is linen. The word originally named linen that had been scraped or teased into a soft fluff, and that was what surgeons packed wounds with for centuries — charpie in French, and made by hand in enormous quantities by women's volunteer groups during wars, right through the American Civil War. Proper absorbent cotton wool replaced it only in the later nineteenth century, when sterility began to matter and everybody realized that hand-scraped fluff carried whatever had been on the hands. The modern sense, meaning the fibers that collect in a pocket or a dryer filter, is the same word applied to the same substance arriving by accident instead of on purpose. The linen root is also in linseed, lingerie and line.
Meaning
the island of Lincoln
An English district name joining the city name to a word for an island — the area was effectively an island between fens and rivers. A Norman family took it to Scotland as a surname, and American usage turned it into a first name for daughters.
How the name formed
- Lindesie
- Lindsay
- Linsay
Pronouncing Linsay
LIN-zee
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The s is said as a z between vowels, which the spelling does not signal, and the dropped letter changes nothing.
Nicknames for Linsay
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
- 1976
- Most girls named
- 198450 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2018reached in 1984
- Change vs 2010
- +20.0%6 in 2015, from 5
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.
Linsays among us
people named Linsay are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Linsay sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Two syllables with front stress is easy to say and hard to mishear.
- It names a real place with a documented meaning.
- Lin detaches cleanly and works for a child of either sex.
- Lindsay, Lindsey and Linsey are all commoner and will be written for it.
- The dropped letter is silent, so the spelling must be given aloud every time.
- The s is read as an s by strangers, which gives a slightly different name.
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Linsay
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Linsays are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Linsay are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Linsay in 2025?
- Linsay is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Linsay with classmates?
- Linsay will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More L names
The most-given names starting with L, all years combined.
Linda#902 · Lisa#987 · Laura#379 · Lauren#401 · Lillian#57 · Lori#1721 · Louise#514 · Lois#1666
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Linsay? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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