Lynna
A feminine name derived from the name Lynn, meaning "pretty" or "beautiful lake".
Name Census estimates that about 1,378 living Americans carry the first name Lynna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lynna today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lynna births was 1963 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lynna. 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
1.4K
~ 1 in 248,733 Americans
Peak year
1963
40 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,890
Tracked since 1918
Popularity
Lynna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lynna from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 274 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
Lynna 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 Lynna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lynnas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Lynna, while Illinois, Arizona, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 40 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lynna
The name Lynna is believed to have originated from the Old English language during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, which lasted from the 5th to the 11th century. It is thought to be a variant spelling of the name Linn, which was derived from the Old English word "linn," meaning a waterfall or a pool.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lynna can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landowners and their holdings in England, commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as a reference to a person's place of residence near a waterfall or a pool.
In medieval times, the name Lynna was relatively uncommon, but it gained some recognition in the 13th century when a noblewoman named Lynna de Vescy was mentioned in the chronicles of the Cistercian abbey of Rievaulx in Yorkshire, England.
During the Renaissance period, the name Lynna appeared in several literary works, including the epic poem "Paradise Lost" by John Milton (1608-1674), where it was used as a character's name.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Lynna was Lynna Fairfax (1590-1647), an English aristocrat and landowner who was a prominent figure in the English Civil War.
Another notable historical figure with the name Lynna was Lynna Philipson (1672-1748), a British botanist and naturalist who made significant contributions to the study of plant life in the early 18th century.
In the 19th century, Lynna Bannister (1835-1912) was a renowned American educator and advocate for women's rights, who played a pivotal role in establishing some of the first higher education institutions for women in the United States.
During the 20th century, Lynna Barahona (1918-2005) was a celebrated Salvadoran poet and activist who used her writing to advocate for social justice and human rights.
More recently, Lynna Landry (born 1954) is a Canadian artist and sculptor known for her large-scale public art installations and her exploration of environmental themes in her work.
People
Lynna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lynna 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
Lynna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lynna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,378 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lynna 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 248,733 US residents.
Is Lynna a common name?
We classify Lynna as "Rare". It ranks above 92% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,711 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lynna most popular?
The single biggest year for Lynna was 1963, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lynna is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lynna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lynna 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.