Lindey
A feminine name derived from the English surname Lindley, meaning "linden tree meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 200 living Americans carry the first name Lindey. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lindey today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lindey births was 1989 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lindey. 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
200
~ 1 in 1,713,772 Americans
Peak year
1989
15 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2010 SSA rank
#14,358
Tracked since 1977
Census
Lindey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 364 people with the first name Lindey, which placed it at #25,851 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
#25,851
National first-name rank
People counted
364
364 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lindey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lindey is White at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.8%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Lindey 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 Lindey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.7% · 301
- Hispanic or Latino8.8% · 32
- Two or more races2.7% · 10
- Black or African American2.5% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 4
Popularity
Lindey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lindey from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 85 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lindey 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 Lindey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lindey
The name Lindey is an English variation of the Germanic name Lindi, which is derived from the Old High German word "lind" meaning a "lime tree" or "linden tree." The linden tree has been revered in Germanic cultures for centuries, symbolizing strength, resilience, and protection.
In ancient Germanic mythology, the linden tree was considered sacred, and its branches were often used in rituals and ceremonies. The name Lindi was likely given to children born under the shade of the linden tree or during the time when these trees bloomed.
The earliest recorded use of the name Lindi can be traced back to the 8th century in Anglo-Saxon England. During this time, the name was primarily used by families of Germanic descent living in regions like Mercia and Northumbria.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Lindi was Lindi of Mercia, a noblewoman who lived in the 9th century and was known for her philanthropic efforts in supporting religious institutions and the poor.
In the 12th century, the name Lindi appeared in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership and taxation in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. This suggests that the name was relatively well-established among the Anglo-Saxon population at the time.
As the name Lindi spread throughout England, it evolved into various spellings and variations, including Lindey, Lyndy, and Lyndie. One notable individual with the name Lindey was Lindey Vickers (1847-1923), a British writer and poet who was part of the Aesthetic Movement in the late 19th century.
Another prominent figure with the name Lindey was Lindey Buckingham (1928-2003), an American artist and sculptor known for her abstract expressionist works. Her sculptures can be found in several public spaces and museums across the United States.
In the world of literature, the name Lindey was immortalized by the character Lindey Pollitt in John Updike's novel "Rabbit Run" (1960). Lindey Pollitt was the wife of the protagonist Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom and represented the changing social norms of the time.
Other notable individuals with the name Lindey include Lindey Beresford (1914-2004), a British actress who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout her career, and Lindey Grantham (1951-), an American actress best known for her role in the television series "The Jeffersons."
People
Lindey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lindey 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
Lindey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lindey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 200 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lindey 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 1,713,772 US residents.
Is Lindey a common name?
We classify Lindey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 209 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lindey most popular?
The single biggest year for Lindey was 1989, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lindey is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lindey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 364 people with the name Lindey, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,851 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 Lindey 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 Lindey?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lindey leans strongly female. 340 people counted with this name were female (93.7%), compared with 23 male bearers (6.3%). 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 Lindey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lindey is White at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.8%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Lindey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lindey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.7% (301 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 Lindey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lindey a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lindey 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 Lindey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lindey 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 Lindey 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 Lindey as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Lindey, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.