Link
A masculine name derived from an old English word meaning "ridge" or "flat top".
Name Census estimates that about 2,367 living Americans carry the first name Link. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Link today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Link births was 2022 (204 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Link. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Link with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Link is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 144,805 Americans
Peak year
2022
204 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,417
Tracked since 1893
Census
Link in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,643 people with the first name Link, which placed it at #8,743 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
#8,743
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,643 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Link
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Link is White at 68.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.6%) and Two or More Races (7.0%). 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 Link 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 Link at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.8% · 1,131
- Hispanic or Latino11.6% · 190
- Two or more races7.0% · 115
- Black or African American6.6% · 108
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.2% · 86
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 13
Popularity
Link: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Link from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,011 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Link remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Link 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 Link during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Links live
The SSA's state-level files cover 28 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Link, while Maryland, Kansas, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Link
The name Link has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the word "lenc" which means a ring or a link in a chain. This name likely emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, around the 5th to 11th centuries AD.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Link is found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of land ownership and property values commissioned by William the Conqueror after the Norman conquest of England. The name appears as a surname, indicating that it was already in use as a given name at that time.
In medieval times, the name Link may have been associated with occupations related to metal-working or armor-making, as the term "link" referred to the interconnected rings or links found in chain mail and other types of protective gear.
One notable historical figure with the name Link was Link Syverud, a Norwegian-American author and educator who lived from 1904 to 1981. He was known for his contributions to the field of education and his advocacy for democratic values.
Another individual with this name was Link Wray, an American rock and roll guitarist who was born in 1929 and passed away in 2005. He is renowned for his innovative guitar playing techniques and his influential instrumental hit "Rumble," which is considered a landmark in the development of the guitar-based rock genre.
During the Renaissance period, the name Link was occasionally used as a given name, although it remained relatively uncommon. One example is Link Luckett, an English composer and organist who lived from around 1520 to 1594. He is known for his contributions to the development of English church music during the Reformation era.
In the 19th century, the name Link gained some popularity in the United States, particularly among families with German or Scandinavian heritage. One notable American with this name was Link Henry, a professional baseball player who played in the Major Leagues from 1912 to 1920.
Another historical figure with the name Link was Link Crew, an American outlaw and gunfighter who was active in the American Old West during the late 19th century. He was known for his involvement in various conflicts and feuds in the frontier territories of the United States.
People
Link + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Link 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
Link: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Link?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,367 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Link 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 144,805 US residents.
Is Link a common name?
We classify Link as "Rare". It ranks above 94.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,580 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Link most popular?
The single biggest year for Link was 2022, when 204 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Link is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Link in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,643 people with the name Link, or 0.54 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,743 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 Link 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 Link?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Link leans strongly male. 1,610 people counted with this name were male (98.1%), compared with 31 female bearers (1.9%). 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 Link?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Link is White at 68.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.6%) and Two or More Races (7.0%). 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 Link most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Link in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.8% (1,131 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 Link in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Link a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Link 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 Link still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Link 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 Link 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 Americans are named Link?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.