Find out how popular the last name Lind is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Lind.

Lind, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Lind surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lind in America

Lind is the 2416th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lind surname appeared 14,990 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 5 people would have the surname Lind.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lind to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Lind

The surname Lind has its origins in Sweden and Denmark, where it first emerged as an occupational name for someone who worked with linden or lime trees. The name is derived from the Old Swedish and Old Danish word 'lind', meaning lime tree.

In Sweden, the name can be traced back to the 14th century. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name is found in the Landskapshandlingar records from Västergötland, Sweden, dated to 1371, which mentions a person named Laurencius Lind.

The name Lind was also present in Denmark during the medieval period. One notable historical reference is the Danish census records from the island of Falster in 1510, which lists several individuals with the surname Lind.

During the 16th century, the name spread to other parts of Scandinavia and Northern Europe, including Norway and Finland. In Finland, the name is sometimes spelled as Lind or Linna, with the latter being a variant derived from the Finnish word for 'castle' or 'fortress'.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name Lind was Carl von Lind (1838-1923), a Swedish-born American artist and illustrator. Another notable figure was Jenny Lind (1820-1887), the famous Swedish operatic soprano known as the "Swedish Nightingale".

Other historical figures with the surname Lind include James Lind (1716-1794), a Scottish physician who conducted pioneering research on scurvy and is considered the founder of nautical medicine. Johan Lind (1737-1781) was a Swedish botanist and explorer who participated in several expeditions to the Arctic regions.

In the United States, one of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lind is found in the 1790 census records from Pennsylvania, which lists a family with the surname Lind.

The surname Lind has also been associated with various place names throughout Scandinavia, such as Lindby (linden village) and Lindholm (linden island), further reinforcing its connection to the lime tree.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lind

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Lind.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Lind was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Lind has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Lind was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Lind, please contact us.

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