Linder
Of English origin, meaning "one who lives by the linden trees".
Name Census estimates that about 204 living Americans carry the first name Linder. It is a predominantly female name (96.2% of registrations). The average person named Linder today is around 72 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Linder births was 1949 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Linder. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Linder is about 72 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Linders were born before 1964.
People living today
204
~ 1 in 1,680,168 Americans
Peak year
1949
25 babies that year
Average age
72
years old
1949 SSA rank
#3,181
Tracked since 1932
Census
Linder in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 461 people with the first name Linder, which placed it at #21,846 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
#21,846
National first-name rank
People counted
461
461 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
56.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Linder
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Linder is Black at 56.4%. The next largest groups are White (24.7%) and Hispanic (15.0%). 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 Linder 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 Linder at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American56.4% · 260
- White24.7% · 114
- Hispanic or Latino15.0% · 69
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 8
- Two or more races1.7% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Linder
Linder leans heavily female at 96.2% of total registrations, but 12 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Linder as a male name
- Ranked #3,181 in 1949
- 7 male births in 1949
- Peak: 1949 (7 births)
Linder as a female name
- Ranked #4,684 in 1965
- 9 female births in 1965
- Peak: 1948 (23 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Linder on both sides of the split. Of the 460 people counted with this name, 125 were male (27.2%) and 335 were female (72.8%).
Popularity
Linder: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Linder from the 1930s through to the 1960s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 146 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Linder remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Linder 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 Linder during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Linders live
Origin
Meaning and history of Linder
The name Linder is believed to have originated in the Old Norse language, spoken by the Scandinavian peoples of Northern Europe during the Viking Age, which lasted from the 8th to the 11th centuries. It is thought to be derived from the Old Norse word "lindr," which means "lime tree" or "linden tree." The linden tree held significant cultural and symbolic importance in Norse mythology and was associated with fertility and love.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Linder can be found in the Icelandic Landnámabók (Book of Settlements), a medieval manuscript that chronicles the settlement of Iceland by Norse explorers and settlers in the 9th and 10th centuries. The name appears in various forms, such as "Lindr" and "Lindri," reflecting the linguistic variations common in Old Norse.
In the Middle Ages, the name Linder gained popularity across Scandinavia and other regions influenced by Norse culture. It was often used as a given name for both men and women, although its usage was more prevalent among men. Notable historical figures who bore the name Linder include Linder Brynjólfsson (c. 1150-1226), an Icelandic chieftain and lawspeaker, and Linder Torfesen (c. 1270-1340), a Norwegian clergyman and historian.
As the name spread beyond Scandinavia, it underwent various transformations and adaptations in different languages and cultures. In German-speaking regions, for example, the name took the form "Linder" or "Lindner," while in English-speaking areas, it was often anglicized as "Lindor" or "Lynder."
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Linder, including Linder Persson (1805-1888), a Swedish politician and judge; Linder Aronsen (1837-1923), a Norwegian painter and illustrator; Linder Hodgson (1856-1937), an English actor and playwright; Linder Johansson (1892-1962), a Swedish Olympic swimmer; and Linder Byström (1909-1980), a Swedish film director and screenwriter.
While the name Linder may have evolved and been adapted over time, its roots can be traced back to the ancient Norse culture and language, where it was closely associated with the symbolic and revered linden tree. Its enduring presence throughout history reflects the lasting influence of Norse heritage and traditions across various regions and cultures.
People
Linder + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Linder 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
Linder: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Linder?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 204 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Linder 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 1,680,168 US residents.
Is Linder a common name?
We classify Linder as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 314 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Linder most popular?
The single biggest year for Linder was 1949, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Linder is about 72 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Linder in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 461 people with the name Linder, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,846 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 Linder 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 Linder?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Linder on both sides of the split. Of the 460 people counted with this name, 125 were male (27.2%) and 335 were female (72.8%). 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 Linder?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Linder is Black at 56.4%. The next largest groups are White (24.7%) and Hispanic (15.0%). 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 Linder most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Linder in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.4% (260 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 Linder in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Linder a female name?
Yes, 96.2% of people registered as Linder in the SSA data are female. 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 Linder still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Linder 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 Linder 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 have Linder as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.