Linsey
Feminine · “the island of Lincoln”
Linsey is given to both — 5,125 girls and 240 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Lincoln is a Celtic pool and a Roman pension scheme. Lindum was a Brittonic name built on a word for a lake; colonia was what Rome called a settlement of retired soldiers. Put them together and you get Lindum Colonia, which two thousand years of English mouths wore down to Lincoln — and Lindsey is the island beside it.
How old is the name Linsey?
Linsey first appears in US birth records in 1948 — 77 years ago. The typical Linsey alive today was born around 1989, making them about 36 years old. About 5,000 people named Linsey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Linsey most popular?
Linsey peaked in 1985, reaching #631 nationally. Today it ranks #11932, 11,301 places below that high. See the whole 1985 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Lindum to Linsey
The story of Linsey
Lindum was a British settlement by a pool before the Romans arrived, and they built a legionary fortress there and later settled discharged soldiers on it, which is what a colonia was — a pension in the form of land. The two halves of the name have been fused ever since. Lindsey, the district north of the city, kept the older element with an English ending meaning an island, because it sat above the fens. The surname went to Scotland with a Norman family, came to America, and became a first name for boys and then for girls in the twentieth century. There is also a fabric: linsey-woolsey is a coarse cloth of linen and wool, and the two words have nothing to do with each other.
Meaning
the island of Lincoln
From Lindsey in Lincolnshire, Old English Lindesig: the Lindum name with -ey, an island or a patch of dry land in marsh. Lindum is Brittonic, from a word for a pool, and Lincoln adds the Latin colonia. The surname became a Scottish one and then an American given name.
How the name formed
- Lindum
- Lindesig
- Lindsey
- Linsey
Pronouncing Linsey
LIN-zee
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the s voiced to a z between vowels. Lindsey, Lindsay and Linsey are said identically; the d is silent in all three.
Nicknames for Linsey
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
- 1948
- Most girls named
- 1985296 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #631reached in 1985
- Change vs 2024
- +16.7%7 in 2025, from 6
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.
Linseys among us
people named Linsey are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 229,610 born in 2025 was named Linsey
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 Ginny test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Linsey's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ginny climbed just as high around 1958, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ginny's path sketches the road Linsey is walking now.
Linsey 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
Linsey beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Linsey in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented English place with a name that can be taken apart into two languages.
- Two syllables that everyone reads correctly on sight.
- It serves either child, and the records show both.
- Lindsey and Lindsay are both far commoner, so the missing d will be restored constantly.
- Linsey-woolsey is a real cloth and older readers may know the word.
- The few boys given this spelling will be read as girls on paper, which reverses its history.
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What they receive
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Linsey
Feminine · #11932 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Linseys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,000 people named Linsey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Linsey in 2025?
- Linsey ranks #11932 among US girl names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Linsey?
- About 1 in every 229,610 US girls born in 2025 was named Linsey — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Linsey with classmates?
- Linsey will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Linsey
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kelise#11932 · Eniya#11932 · Athziri#11932 · Tyliyah#11932 · Braleigh#11932 · Cadance#11932 · Alliah#11932 · Alyia#11932
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Linsey? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Linsey and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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