Linc
A diminutive form of the French name Lincoln, itself derived from a town of unknown meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 180 living Americans carry the first name Linc. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Linc today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Linc births was 1964 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Linc. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
180
~ 1 in 1,904,191 Americans
Peak year
1964
21 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2023 SSA rank
#8,645
Tracked since 1956
Census
Linc in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 263 people with the first name Linc, which placed it at #32,158 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#32,158
National first-name rank
People counted
263
263 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Linc
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Linc is White at 69.6%. The next largest groups are Black (15.2%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Linc described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Linc at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.6% · 183
- Black or African American15.2% · 40
- Two or more races6.1% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 11
Popularity
Linc: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Linc from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 83 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Linc remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Linc by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Linc during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lincs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Linc
The name Linc is an English given name derived from the Old English word "linc," which means "link" or "chain." It is believed to have originated in the Anglo-Saxon period, around the 5th to 11th centuries AD, in the regions that are now England and parts of Scotland.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Linc can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of the great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as a surname, suggesting its use as a given name predates the 11th century.
In the Middle Ages, the name Linc was associated with the profession of blacksmithing and metalworking due to its connection with chains and links. It was a common name among skilled craftsmen who worked with metals, forging tools and weapons.
One notable historical figure with the name Linc was Linc the Smith, a legendary blacksmith from the 12th century who is said to have forged the sword of the famous English outlaw, Robin Hood. While the existence of Robin Hood is debated, Linc the Smith's name has been preserved in folklore and ballads from the period.
In the 16th century, Linc Kearsley was a prominent English merchant and trader who played a significant role in establishing trade routes between England and the Americas. He was born in 1542 and died in 1612.
During the American Revolutionary War, Linc Symington was a Scottish-born soldier who fought for the Continental Army. He was born in 1744 and died in 1815.
In the 19th century, Linc Hanthorn was an American civil engineer and architect who designed several notable buildings in New York City, including the old Tombs Prison. He was born in 1820 and died in 1892.
More recently, Linc Hand was an American football player who played as a defensive back for the New England Patriots in the 1960s. He was born in 1939 and died in 2020.
While the name Linc is not as common today as it was in earlier centuries, it has maintained a presence throughout history, particularly in English-speaking regions, and continues to be used as a given name in various parts of the world.
People
Linc + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Linc as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Linc: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Linc?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 180 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Linc going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,904,191 US residents.
Is Linc a common name?
We classify Linc as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 199 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Linc most popular?
The single biggest year for Linc was 1964, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Linc is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Linc in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 263 people with the name Linc, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,158 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Linc in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Linc?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Linc appears almost entirely male. Of the 260 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Linc?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Linc is White at 69.6%. The next largest groups are Black (15.2%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Linc most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Linc in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.6% (183 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Linc in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Linc a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Linc in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Linc still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Linc in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Linc can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Linc?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.