Lynley
From English origins, a meadow or woodland clearing.
Name Census estimates that about 933 living Americans carry the first name Lynley. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lynley today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lynley births was 2016 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lynley. 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
933
~ 1 in 367,368 Americans
Peak year
2016
46 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,220
Tracked since 1962
Popularity
Lynley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lynley from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 340 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Lynley remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lynley 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 Lynley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lynleys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, Arkansas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Lynley, while Mississippi, Georgia, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lynley
The name Lynley has its roots in the Old English language and dates back to the 5th century AD. It is believed to have originated from the compound words "lind" meaning "lime tree" and "leah" meaning "meadow" or "clearing". Together, these words formed the name Lindleah, which eventually evolved into the modern spelling of Lynley.
The name was particularly popular in Anglo-Saxon England, where it was often used to refer to settlements or villages located near a lime tree-filled meadow or clearing. Some scholars suggest that the name may have been derived from a specific place name, such as Lindley in West Yorkshire, England.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lynley can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as a surname. It is believed that the name later transitioned into a given name, particularly among the English nobility and gentry.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Lynley. One of the earliest was Lynley de Verdun (c. 1130–1199), a Norman nobleman and Lord of Westmorland in northern England. Another notable figure was Lynley Strachey (1480–1550), an English landowner and Member of Parliament during the reign of Henry VIII.
In the 17th century, Lynley Ferrar (1609–1679) was an English churchman and author who served as the chaplain to King Charles I. During the same period, Lynley Howard (1629–1699) was an English playwright and poet who wrote several successful works for the Restoration stage.
More recently, Lynley Browne (1914–1998) was an Australian actress and television personality who gained fame for her roles in various television series and films throughout the mid-20th century.
While the name Lynley has its origins in Old English, it has gained popularity across various cultures and regions over the centuries. However, its roots can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon settlements of medieval England, where it was closely associated with the natural landscape and geographic features of the area.
People
Lynley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lynley 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
Lynley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lynley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 933 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lynley 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 367,368 US residents.
Is Lynley a common name?
We classify Lynley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 969 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lynley most popular?
The single biggest year for Lynley was 2016, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lynley is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lynley a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lynley 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.