ninan.org

Lindsay

Girls' name · Late 20th-century

Living in the US
~130,000 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#2,194 among girls
Births in 2025
84 135,501 since 1880
Typical age
38 years, median

Lindsay popularity over time

Lindsay rank by birth year, 1916–2025Lindsay ranked #3,919 in 1916 and #2,194 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #36, in 1983.#100#1,000#2,194best #36 in 1983192019401960198020002020
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1916–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

1983 is the peak year for Lindsay, with 8,713 births. It is present from 1880, the first year of the record. Lindsay has spent 16 years inside the national top 100.

In 2025 it ranked #2,194 with 84 births. The ten-year change is -75%. It slipped 214 places against the previous year.

Babies named Lindsay per yearPeaks at 8,713 births in 1983.8,713 in 1983018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Lindsay?

Roughly 130,000 Lindsays are alive in the US right now. SSA has recorded 135,501 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Lindsay?

Median age among living Lindsays: 38. The 1980s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Lindsay a late 20th-century name.

Your Lindsay

Ages of living people named LindsayHalf of living Lindsays are older than 38 and half younger.median 38020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Lindsay is most common

New Jersey uses the name 1.9× as often as the country as a whole. Virginia, Maryland and Massachusetts follow.

Where Lindsay is used more than average5 states use the name Lindsay more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: 1.3× the national rateNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: 1.9× the national rateNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: 1.6× the national rateVAMaryland: 1.4× the national rateMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: 1.4× the national rateMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Lindsay is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
New Jersey 62 1.9×
Virginia 50 1.6×
Maryland 29 1.4×
Massachusetts 32 1.4×
New York 99 1.3×

Is Lindsay a boy's or a girl's name?

96% girls4% boys
Share of all recorded US births under this name, 1880 to the latest year.

Across the whole record, 96.2% of births under the name were girls. The dominant sex is not the same at the end of the record as at the start.

Where the name Lindsay comes from

From Lindsey in Lincolnshire, from Old English Lindesēġe, Lindesīġe (“Isle of Lind”), the Old English name of the city of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, in which "Lind" comes from the Common Brittonic form of the name of Lincoln and "isle" refers to Lincoln being surrounded by fenland; from Proto-Brythonic *llɨnn (“pool”), from Proto-Celtic *lindos (“lake, liquid”), in reference to the Brayford + ēġ (“island”); cf. modern Welsh llyn and Dublin.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Lindsay

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Lindsay Lohan American actress and singer 1986 94
Lindsay Davenport American tennis player 1976 59
Lindsay Wagner American actress 1949 39
Lindsay Anderson British feature-film, theatre and documentary director and film critic 1923–1994 38
Lindsay Hoyle Speaker of the House of Commons 1957 33
Lindsay Duncan Scottish actress 1950 32
Lindsay Price American actress and singer 1976 28
Lindsay Crouse actress 1948 27
Photo credits (4)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 537 in 1975 to 2,120 in 1976 — 3.9 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Lindsay

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/lindsay.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).