Linnette
A feminine name of French origin meaning "petite linden tree".
Name Census estimates that about 951 living Americans carry the first name Linnette. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Linnette today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Linnette births was 1971 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Linnette. 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
951
~ 1 in 360,415 Americans
Peak year
1971
36 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2022 SSA rank
#14,588
Tracked since 1930
Census
Linnette in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,523 people with the first name Linnette, which placed it at #9,222 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
#9,222
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,523 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
42.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Linnette
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Linnette is Hispanic at 42.6%. The next largest groups are Black (28.2%) and White (24.6%). 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 Linnette 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 Linnette at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino42.6% · 649
- Black or African American28.2% · 430
- White24.6% · 374
- Two or more races2.2% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 29
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 8
Popularity
Linnette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Linnette from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 269 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Linnette 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 Linnette during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Linnettes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Linnette, while Florida, Ohio, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 32 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Linnette
The name Linnette is believed to have originated from the French language, derived from the Latin name Lina, which itself comes from the Greek word "linon," meaning "flax" or "linen." The name likely emerged during the Middle Ages in France, around the 12th or 13th century.
While the exact origins of the name are uncertain, it is thought that Linnette was initially a diminutive form of the name Lina, used as a endearing nickname or pet name for girls. The addition of the "-ette" suffix was a common practice in French at the time, creating a more affectionate or diminutive version of a name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Linnette can be found in the 14th-century French poem "Roman de la Rose," written by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun. In the poem, a character named Linnette is mentioned, though her significance is not entirely clear.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Linnette. One such person was Linnette Chillingworth (1658-1722), an English woman who was one of the last individuals to be prosecuted and executed for witchcraft in England. Another notable Linnette was Linnette Qiu Hiaasen (1924-2017), a Chinese-American author and activist who wrote extensively about her experiences during the Cultural Revolution in China.
In the realm of music, Linnette Opie (born 1935) was an American jazz singer and songwriter who performed with notable musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Art Blakey. Linnette Vassell (1940-2022) was a Jamaican singer and songwriter who was a prominent figure in the ska and rocksteady genres.
Another notable Linnette was Linnette Rivero (born 1953), a Cuban-American politician who served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1998 to 2006. She was known for her advocacy on issues related to education and healthcare.
While the name Linnette has never been among the most popular names, it has maintained a unique charm and historical significance, reflecting its French and Latin roots and its connection to the world of literature and the arts.
People
Linnette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Linnette 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
Linnette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Linnette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 951 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Linnette 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 360,415 US residents.
Is Linnette a common name?
We classify Linnette as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,144 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Linnette most popular?
The single biggest year for Linnette was 1971, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Linnette is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Linnette in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,523 people with the name Linnette, or 0.50 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,222 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 Linnette 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 Linnette?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Linnette appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,524 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Linnette?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Linnette is Hispanic at 42.6%. The next largest groups are Black (28.2%) and White (24.6%). 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 Linnette most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Linnette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.6% (649 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 Linnette in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Linnette a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Linnette 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 Linnette still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Linnette 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 Linnette 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 Linnette?
Find out how many people share the name Linnette on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.