Norlin
Derived from Old Norse elements meaning "north" and "linen."
Name Census estimates that about 8 living Americans carry the first name Norlin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Norlin today is around 78 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Norlin births was 1935 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Norlin. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Norlin is about 78 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Norlins were born before 1958.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Norlin. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
8
~ 1 in 42,844,292 Americans
Peak year
1935
5 babies that year
Average age
78
years old
1957 SSA rank
#4,382
Tracked since 1935
Popularity
Norlin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Norlin from the 1930s through to the 1950s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 10 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Norlin 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 Norlin 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 Norlin
The name Norlin is derived from the Old Norse language and has its origins in Scandinavia, primarily in Sweden and Norway, dating back to the Viking Age (793-1066 AD). It is a compound name formed by combining the words "nordr" meaning "north" and "linn" meaning "lake" or "pond." Historically, it was likely a descriptive name given to someone residing near a northern lake or pond.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Norlin can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of medieval Norse literature from the 13th and 14th centuries. The name appears in the Njál's Saga, where a character named Norlin is mentioned as a farmer living in the Rangárvallasýsla region of Iceland.
In the 11th century, a Norwegian chieftain named Norlin Thorvaldsson is mentioned in the Heimskringla, a famous collection of Old Norse kings' sagas written by the renowned Icelandic scholar Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241).
During the Middle Ages, the name Norlin was not uncommon among Scandinavian nobility and landowners. One notable figure was Norlin Håkansson (1225-1290), a Swedish nobleman and advisor to King Valdemar Birgersson of Sweden.
In the 16th century, Norlin Pedersson (1510-1568) was a Danish-Norwegian astronomer and mathematician who made significant contributions to the field of navigation and cartography.
Another noteworthy individual was Norlin Andersson (1680-1756), a Swedish military officer who served as a colonel in the Swedish army during the Great Northern War (1700-1721) against Russia.
It is important to note that while the name Norlin has roots in Old Norse and Scandinavian cultures, it has also been adopted and used in various other regions and cultures over time, often with slight variations in spelling or pronunciation.
People
Norlin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Norlin as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Norlin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Norlin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Norlin 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 42,844,292 US residents.
Is Norlin a common name?
We classify Norlin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 24.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Norlin most popular?
The single biggest year for Norlin was 1935, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Norlin is about 78 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Norlin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Norlin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Norlin 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 Norlin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Norlin 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 Norlin 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Norlin?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.