Belynda
A feminine name derived from French meaning "beautiful snaky one".
Name Census estimates that about 647 living Americans carry the first name Belynda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Belynda today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Belynda births was 1964 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Belynda. 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 Belynda with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
647
~ 1 in 529,759 Americans
Peak year
1964
39 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
2013 SSA rank
#16,956
Tracked since 1949
Census
Belynda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 691 people with the first name Belynda, which placed it at #16,359 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
#16,359
National first-name rank
People counted
691
691 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Belynda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Belynda is White at 64.1%. The next largest groups are Black (15.9%) and Hispanic (11.9%). 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 Belynda 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 Belynda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.1% · 443
- Black or African American15.9% · 110
- Hispanic or Latino11.9% · 82
- Two or more races4.8% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 6
Popularity
Belynda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Belynda from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 248 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Belynda 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 Belynda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Belyndas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Belynda
The name Belynda has its origins in the Germanic languages, tracing back to the Old High German name Belinda, which was derived from the Germanic elements "bel" meaning "bright" or "shining" and "lind" meaning "soft" or "tender." It is believed to have emerged during the early medieval period, around the 5th to 8th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Belynda can be found in the 12th-century German epic poem "Das Nibelungenlied," where it is mentioned as the name of a character. This suggests that the name was already in use during that time, although its popularity may have been limited to certain regions of what is now modern-day Germany and surrounding areas.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Belynda. One of the earliest recorded was Belynda of Flanders (c. 1120-1182), a Flemish noblewoman who was a prominent figure in the courts of the Counts of Flanders during the 12th century. Another notable bearer of the name was Belynda von Rothenburg (c. 1240-1305), a German mystic and religious writer who was known for her spiritual visions and writings.
In the 16th century, Belynda Heyward (c. 1520-1585) was an English poet and courtier who served in the court of Queen Elizabeth I. Her poetry and writings were widely circulated during her lifetime and served as an important contribution to the literary culture of the Elizabethan era.
During the 17th century, Belynda de la Vega (1605-1678) was a Spanish painter and one of the few women artists of her time to achieve significant recognition. Her works, which included portraits and religious paintings, are now housed in various museums and galleries throughout Spain.
In the 19th century, Belynda Carlisle (1819-1891) was an American author and activist who wrote extensively on women's rights and social reform. She was a prominent figure in the early stages of the women's suffrage movement in the United States and worked alongside notable figures such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have borne the name Belynda throughout history, illustrating its enduring presence and the diverse backgrounds of those who have carried this name over the centuries.
People
Belynda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Belynda as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Belynda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Belynda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 647 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Belynda 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 529,759 US residents.
Is Belynda a common name?
We classify Belynda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 766 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Belynda most popular?
The single biggest year for Belynda was 1964, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Belynda is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Belynda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 691 people with the name Belynda, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,359 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 Belynda 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 Belynda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Belynda appears almost entirely female. Of the 701 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 Belynda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Belynda is White at 64.1%. The next largest groups are Black (15.9%) and Hispanic (11.9%). 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 Belynda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Belynda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.1% (443 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 Belynda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Belynda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Belynda 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 Belynda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Belynda 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 Belynda 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 many people share the name Belynda?
You can see how many Americans are named Belynda on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.