Lynsay
An English feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from an Irish surname.
Name Census estimates that about 290 living Americans carry the first name Lynsay. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lynsay today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lynsay births was 1982 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lynsay. 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 Lynsay with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
290
~ 1 in 1,181,912 Americans
Peak year
1982
24 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2006 SSA rank
#16,320
Tracked since 1976
Census
Lynsay in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 313 people with the first name Lynsay, which placed it at #28,614 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
#28,614
National first-name rank
People counted
313
313 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lynsay
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lynsay is White at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.0%) and Black (5.4%). 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 Lynsay 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 Lynsay at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.7% · 259
- Hispanic or Latino7.0% · 22
- Black or African American5.4% · 17
- Two or more races2.9% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 2
Popularity
Lynsay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lynsay from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 178 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lynsay 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 Lynsay during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lynsay
The name Lynsay is a variant spelling of the Scottish name Lindsay, which has its origins in the English place name Lindsaye, derived from the Old English words "lind" meaning "lime tree" and "ey" meaning "island". The name was likely coined to refer to a small island covered with lime trees.
The earliest recorded use of the name Lindsay dates back to the 12th century, when it was used as a surname for people who hailed from the lands of Lindsaye in England. Over time, the name evolved into a given name, particularly in Scotland and England.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Sir David de Lindsay, a Scottish knight who lived in the late 13th century and was known for his military exploits. Another notable figure was Sir David Lindsay of the Mount (1490-1555), a Scottish Renaissance poet and courtier during the reigns of James IV and James V of Scotland.
In the literary realm, the name gained prominence through the works of Sir Walter Scott, the famous Scottish novelist and poet of the 19th century. One of his characters, Lady Rowena Lindsay, appears in the novel "Ivanhoe" and is portrayed as a beautiful and virtuous Saxon noblewoman.
A few other notable historical figures with the name Lynsay or its variants include:
1. Lynsay Faye (born 1957), an American author known for her historical mystery novels set in late 19th century New York City.
2. Lyndsey Rodrigues (born 1991), a Canadian soccer player who has represented Canada in international competitions.
3. Lindsay Wagner (born 1949), an American actress best known for her role as Jaime Sommers in the 1970s television series "The Bionic Woman".
4. Lindsay Lohan (born 1986), an American actress, singer, and entrepreneur who rose to fame as a child star in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
5. Lindsay Davenport (born 1976), a former professional tennis player from the United States who won multiple Grand Slam singles titles and an Olympic gold medal.
While the name Lynsay has its roots in medieval England and Scotland, it has since been embraced and popularized across various cultures and regions, particularly in the English-speaking world.
People
Lynsay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lynsay 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
Lynsay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lynsay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 290 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lynsay 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 1,181,912 US residents.
Is Lynsay a common name?
We classify Lynsay as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 307 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lynsay most popular?
The single biggest year for Lynsay was 1982, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lynsay is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lynsay in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 313 people with the name Lynsay, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,614 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 Lynsay 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 Lynsay?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lynsay appears almost entirely female. Of the 315 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Lynsay?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lynsay is White at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.0%) and Black (5.4%). 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 Lynsay most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lynsay in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.7% (259 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 Lynsay in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lynsay a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lynsay 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 Lynsay still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lynsay 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 Lynsay 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 common is the name Lynsay?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.