Lindy
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly a diminutive of Linda.
Name Census estimates that about 8,344 living Americans carry the first name Lindy. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 83.1% of registrations being female. The average person named Lindy today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lindy births was 1979 (318 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lindy. 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
8.3K
~ 1 in 41,078 Americans
Peak year
1979
318 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2012 SSA rank
#1,947
Tracked since 1885
Gender
Gender distribution for Lindy
Lindy leans heavily female at 83.1% of total registrations, but 1,776 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Lindy as a male name
- Ranked #11,687 in 2012
- 6 male births in 2012
- Peak: 1927 (235 births)
Lindy as a female name
- Ranked #1,947 in 2024
- 102 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1979 (310 births)
Popularity
Lindy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lindy from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 1,838 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
Lindy 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 Lindy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lindys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Lindy, while District of Columbia, Nebraska, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 123 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lindy
The name Lindy is a diminutive form of the name Linda, which is derived from the Spanish and Portuguese name Lindo, meaning "pretty" or "beautiful." The name Lindy likely originated in the late 19th or early 20th century as a nickname for the more formal name Linda.
While the name Lindy does not have a long history or deep cultural roots, it has been used by several notable individuals throughout the 20th century. One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Lindy was for the American aviator Charles Lindbergh, who was nicknamed "Lindy" after his famous solo transatlantic flight in 1927.
Another famous person named Lindy was the American dancer and choreographer Lindy Hop, whose real name was Soledad "Shorty" Greaves (1913-2001). Greaves was a pioneer of the Lindy Hop dance, which was named after Charles Lindbergh's nickname and became popular in the 1930s and 1940s.
In the world of entertainment, Lindy Lane (1932-2021) was an American actress and dancer who appeared in several films and television shows in the 1950s and 1960s. Additionally, Lindy Booth (born 1979) is a Canadian actress known for her roles in various television series and films.
In the realm of sports, Lindy McDaniel (1935-2020) was an American professional baseball player who played as a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1957 to 1975.
While the name Lindy may not have a deep historical or cultural significance, it has been worn by several notable individuals throughout the 20th century, particularly in the fields of aviation, dance, entertainment, and sports.
People
Lindy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lindy 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
Lindy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lindy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,344 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lindy 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 41,078 US residents.
Is Lindy a common name?
We classify Lindy as "Rare". It ranks above 97.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,540 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lindy most popular?
The single biggest year for Lindy was 1979, when 318 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lindy is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lindy a female name?
Yes, 83.1% of people registered as Lindy 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.
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.