Linn
A girl's name of Irish origin meaning "small pool or lake".
Name Census estimates that about 1,370 living Americans carry the first name Linn. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 63.3% of registrations being male. The average person named Linn today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Linn births was 1956 (84 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Linn. 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
- • Linn sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
- • The typical person named Linn is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Linns were born before 1969.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 250,186 Americans
Peak year
1956
84 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
1989 SSA rank
#8,708
Tracked since 1882
Gender
Gender distribution for Linn
Linn is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 2,289 total registrations, 1,450 (63.3%) were male and 839 (36.7%) were female.
Linn as a male name
- Ranked #8,708 in 1989
- 5 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1947 (50 births)
Linn as a female name
- Ranked #17,275 in 2003
- 5 female births in 2003
- Peak: 1956 (50 births)
Popularity
Linn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Linn from the 1880s through to the 2000s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 644 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Linn 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 Linn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Linns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois recorded the most babies named Linn, while Michigan, Indiana, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 25 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Linn
The name Linn is derived from the Old Norse word "linn" which means "a waterfall" or "a pool". It is believed to have originated in Scandinavia during the Viking era, around the 8th to 11th centuries AD. The name was commonly used in ancient Norse mythology and folklore, often associated with natural elements like waterfalls and rivers.
One of the earliest known historical references to the name Linn can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, which are a collection of medieval Norse literature. In these sagas, there are mentions of characters with names like Linnritha and Linnbera, which incorporate the element "linn".
In the 12th century, a Norwegian chieftain named Linn Berdorsson is recorded to have existed. He was a prominent figure during the civil wars that took place in Norway at that time.
During the Middle Ages, the name Linn gained popularity across Scandinavian countries like Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland. It was also adopted in parts of Scotland and Ireland, where the Norse influence was strong.
One notable figure with the name Linn was the Swedish botanist Carl von Linné, also known as Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778). He is renowned for his work in taxonomy and for establishing the modern system of binomial nomenclature for classifying living organisms.
Another historical figure with the name Linn was the Norwegian painter Johan Christian Lund (1768-1844), who was also known as Linn Lund. He was a prominent figure in the Golden Age of Norwegian art and is remembered for his landscape paintings.
In the 19th century, the American writer and abolitionist Linn Boyd Brayer (1824-1892) gained recognition for his work in advocating for the abolition of slavery and women's rights.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Linn in literature can be found in the works of the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796). He wrote a poem titled "Linn" which celebrated the beauty of a waterfall in Scotland.
While the name Linn has its roots in Scandinavia and the Viking era, it has since been adopted and used in various parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries. However, its historical and cultural significance remains deeply connected to its Norse origins and the natural elements associated with it.
People
Linn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Linn 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
Linn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Linn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,370 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Linn 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 250,186 US residents.
Is Linn a common name?
We classify Linn as "Rare". It ranks above 91.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,289 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Linn most popular?
The single biggest year for Linn was 1956, when 84 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Linn is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Linn a male name?
Yes, 63.3% of people registered as Linn 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.
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.