Lynford
From English place names meaning "linden tree ford or crossing".
Name Census estimates that about 139 living Americans carry the first name Lynford. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Lynford today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lynford births was 1926 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lynford. 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
139
~ 1 in 2,465,859 Americans
Peak year
1926
15 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,703
Tracked since 1913
Census
Lynford in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 311 people with the first name Lynford, which placed it at #28,739 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
#28,739
National first-name rank
People counted
311
311 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lynford
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lynford is White at 70.7%. The next largest groups are Black (26.0%) and Two or More Races (1.3%). 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 Lynford 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 Lynford at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.7% · 220
- Black or African American26.0% · 81
- Two or more races1.3% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 3
Popularity
Lynford: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lynford from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 75 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lynford 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 Lynford during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lynfords live
Origin
Meaning and history of Lynford
The name Lynford has its origins in the Old English language, dating back to the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain between the 5th and 11th centuries. It is a compound name derived from the elements "lind" and "ford," with "lind" meaning "linden tree" and "ford" referring to a shallow place where a river can be crossed.
This name was likely given to individuals who lived near a ford or crossing point near a linden tree or grove of linden trees. The linden tree held significance in Germanic and Anglo-Saxon cultures, often associated with fertility and renewal due to its resilience and ability to regenerate from stumps.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Lynford can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive record of landholdings and properties in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The entry refers to a place called "Lindeford" in Norfolk, which may have been the origin of the name.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Lynford. One such example is Lynford Lardner (1713-1786), an English politician and Member of Parliament for Woodstock from 1761 to 1768. Another is Lynford Gardiner (1829-1885), a British colonial administrator who served as the Lieutenant Governor of the British Virgin Islands from 1880 to 1885.
In the realm of literature, Lynford Compton (1924-2008) was a notable Australian poet and academic, known for his works exploring themes of spirituality and the natural world. His poetry collections include "The Emblems of Mortality" and "The Unripe Harvest."
Another notable figure is Lynford Westover (1892-1979), an American architect who designed several significant buildings in Los Angeles, including the Carthay Circle Theatre and the Wiltern Theatre. His work was influenced by the Art Deco and Spanish Colonial Revival styles.
In the field of sports, Lynford Christie (born 1959) is a former British sprinter and Olympic gold medalist. He won the gold medal in the 100-meter dash at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and held the European record for the event from 1988 to 1994.
While the name Lynford has its roots in Old English and Anglo-Saxon history, it has remained relatively uncommon throughout the centuries. However, its unique combination of elements and historical significance have contributed to its enduring appeal as a given name.
People
Lynford + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lynford 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
Lynford: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lynford?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 139 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lynford 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 2,465,859 US residents.
Is Lynford a common name?
We classify Lynford as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 328 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lynford most popular?
The single biggest year for Lynford was 1926, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lynford is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lynford in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 311 people with the name Lynford, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,739 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 Lynford 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 Lynford?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lynford appears almost entirely male. Of the 315 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Lynford?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lynford is White at 70.7%. The next largest groups are Black (26.0%) and Two or More Races (1.3%). 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 Lynford most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lynford in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.7% (220 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 Lynford in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lynford a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lynford 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 Lynford still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lynford 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 Lynford 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 Lynford?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.