Palin
A word with uncertain origin, potentially meaning "imperishable" or "path."
Name Census estimates that about 147 living Americans carry the first name Palin. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Palin today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Palin births was 2009 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Palin. 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
147
~ 1 in 2,331,662 Americans
Peak year
2009
39 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2020 SSA rank
#16,922
Tracked since 2008
Popularity
Palin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Palin from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 90 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Palin 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 Palin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Palins live
Origin
Meaning and history of Palin
The name Palin is an English variation of the Latin name Palinus, which was derived from the ancient Roman family name Palinius. The Palinius family is believed to have originated in the region around Palini, a small town in central Italy during the 1st century BC.
The name Palinus can be traced back to the Latin word "palinus", which meant "returning" or "reversing". This suggests that the original bearer of the name may have been known for backtracking or changing course. Alternatively, the name could have referred to the reversal of fortune, either positive or negative.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Palinus can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Livy. He documented a Roman soldier named Palinus who fought in the Second Punic War against Hannibal's forces in the 3rd century BC.
During the Middle Ages, the name Palin emerged as an English variation of Palinus. One of the earliest known bearers of this spelling was Palin of Auxerre, a French scholar and theologian who lived in the 9th century AD.
In the 12th century, a Benedictine monk named Palin of Bologna gained recognition for his contributions to canon law. He played a significant role in shaping the legal system of the Catholic Church.
Moving forward to the 16th century, Sir Palin Greenbank was an English merchant and explorer who helped establish trade routes between England and the East Indies. He was born in 1542 and died in 1610.
In more recent times, Palin Kyd was a Scottish artist and printmaker known for his etchings and lithographs depicting rural life in Scotland. He lived from 1811 to 1878.
Perhaps the most famous bearer of the name Palin is the British comedian and actor Michael Palin, best known for his work with the iconic comedy troupe Monty Python. He was born in 1943 and has had a long and successful career in film, television, and literature.
People
Palin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Palin as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Palin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Palin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 147 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Palin 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 2,331,662 US residents.
Is Palin a common name?
We classify Palin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 148 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Palin most popular?
The single biggest year for Palin was 2009, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Palin is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Palin a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Palin 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.