Linnie
A feminine diminutive form of the name Linda, meaning "pretty".
Name Census estimates that about 1,688 living Americans carry the first name Linnie. It is a predominantly female name (91.8% of registrations). The average person named Linnie today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Linnie births was 1921 (191 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Linnie. 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 Linnie with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Linnie is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Linnies were born before 1968.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 203,054 Americans
Peak year
1921
191 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
1989 SSA rank
#7,785
Tracked since 1880
Census
Linnie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,929 people with the first name Linnie, which placed it at #7,757 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
#7,757
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,929 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Linnie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Linnie is White at 61.6%. The next largest groups are Black (31.4%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Linnie 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 Linnie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.6% · 1,188
- Black or African American31.4% · 605
- Two or more races3.1% · 59
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 29
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 22
Gender
Gender distribution for Linnie
Linnie leans heavily female at 91.8% of total registrations, but 712 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Linnie as a male name
- Ranked #8,709 in 1989
- 5 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1961 (19 births)
Linnie as a female name
- Ranked #7,785 in 2024
- 14 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1921 (180 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Linnie leans strongly female. 1,661 people counted with this name were female (85.9%), compared with 272 male bearers (14.1%).
Popularity
Linnie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Linnie from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,499 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Linnie 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 Linnie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Linnies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. Texas, Mississippi, Alabama recorded the most babies named Linnie, while Kansas, Pennsylvania, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 192 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Linnie
The name Linnie is a diminutive form of the feminine given name Lina, which is derived from the Germanic name Lina or Lena. Lina is a short form of the Germanic names Magdalena or Paulina. The name Linnie is thought to have originated in the Middle Ages, possibly in the 12th or 13th century.
The earliest recorded use of the name Linnie can be found in English parish records from the 16th century. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Linnie Fairfax, born in 1587 in Yorkshire, England. She was a member of the prominent Fairfax family and married Sir William Craven in 1608.
Another notable bearer of the name was Linnie Marsh Wolfe, an American educator and author who lived from 1881 to 1945. She was a pioneer in the field of adult education and wrote several books on the subject, including "Child Study and Child Training" and "The Home Life of All the World's People."
In the 19th century, Linnie was a relatively popular name in the United States. One famous bearer was Linnie Mercer Reckord, born in 1875 in Mississippi. She was a prominent educator and social activist who worked to establish schools for African American children in the South.
Another notable Linnie was Linnie Marsh Gaskin, who lived from 1874 to 1949. She was a British author and illustrator best known for her children's books, including "The Little White Duck" and "The Adventures of a Brownie."
In the early 20th century, Linnie was a less common name, but it was still used occasionally. One example is Linnie Gertrude Doherty, born in 1903 in New York. She was a prominent American tennis player who won several Grand Slam titles in the 1920s and 1930s.
While the name Linnie has fallen out of widespread use in modern times, it remains a unique and historically significant name with roots dating back to the Middle Ages. Its diminutive form and connection to other Germanic names like Lina and Magdalena give it a rich linguistic heritage.
People
Linnie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Linnie 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
Linnie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Linnie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,688 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Linnie 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 203,054 US residents.
Is Linnie a common name?
We classify Linnie as "Rare". It ranks above 93% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,695 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Linnie most popular?
The single biggest year for Linnie was 1921, when 191 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Linnie is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Linnie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,929 people with the name Linnie, or 0.64 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,757 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 Linnie 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 Linnie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Linnie leans strongly female. 1,661 people counted with this name were female (85.9%), compared with 272 male bearers (14.1%). 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 Linnie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Linnie is White at 61.6%. The next largest groups are Black (31.4%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Linnie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Linnie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.6% (1,188 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 Linnie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Linnie a female name?
Yes, 91.8% of people registered as Linnie 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 Linnie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Linnie 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 Linnie 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 the name Linnie?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Linnie on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.