Lyn
A feminine name meaning "small lake" or "pool" of Welsh origin.
Name Census estimates that about 6,047 living Americans carry the first name Lyn. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 82.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Lyn today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lyn births was 1954 (330 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lyn. 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
6.0K
~ 1 in 56,682 Americans
Peak year
1954
330 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
1994 SSA rank
#7,455
Tracked since 1896
Gender
Gender distribution for Lyn
Lyn leans heavily female at 82.2% of total registrations, but 1,561 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Lyn as a male name
- Ranked #7,455 in 1994
- 7 male births in 1994
- Peak: 1950 (61 births)
Lyn as a female name
- Ranked #11,697 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1957 (280 births)
Popularity
Lyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lyn from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 2,887 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
Lyn 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 Lyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, New York, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Lyn, while New Mexico, New Hampshire, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 121 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lyn
The name Lyn is a diminutive form of the name Linda, which is derived from the Spanish name Lindo, meaning "pretty" or "beautiful." The name can be traced back to the 16th century, when it was used as a nickname for people named Linda or Belinda. It gained popularity in English-speaking countries during the 20th century as a standalone name.
The origins of the name Lyn can be found in various cultures and languages. In German, the name Lina is a variant of Lindo, while in French, the name Line is a diminutive of Madeleine. In Celtic cultures, the name Lynn is derived from the Welsh word "llyn," meaning "lake" or "pool."
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Lyn was in the 13th century, when a woman named Lyn de Verdon was mentioned in historical records from England. In literature, the name appears in the 16th-century play "The Taming of the Shrew" by William Shakespeare, where one of the characters is named Linen.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Lyn. One of the most famous was Lyn Nofziger (1924-2006), an American political consultant and author who served as a White House press secretary under President Ronald Reagan. Another notable figure was Lyn St. James (born 1947), an American racecar driver who competed in the Indianapolis 500 and was a pioneer in promoting women's involvement in motorsports.
In the world of entertainment, Lyn Randolph (1890-1944) was an American actress and singer who appeared in numerous Broadway productions and films during the early 20th century. Lyn Talbot (1936-1988) was an American actress and singer best known for her roles in television shows such as "The Monkees" and "Hawaii Five-O."
Lyn Hejinian (born 1941) is an American poet and academic who has been recognized for her contributions to language poetry. Her works include "My Life" and "The Cell," among others.
People
Lyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lyn 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
Lyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,047 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lyn 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 56,682 US residents.
Is Lyn a common name?
We classify Lyn as "Rare". It ranks above 96.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,772 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Lyn was 1954, when 330 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lyn is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lyn a female name?
Yes, 82.2% of people registered as Lyn 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.