Lynden
A masculine name of English origin meaning "linden tree valley".
Name Census estimates that about 1,885 living Americans carry the first name Lynden. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 66.4% of registrations being male. The average person named Lynden today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lynden births was 2016 (77 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lynden. 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 Lynden with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.9K
~ 1 in 181,833 Americans
Peak year
2016
77 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,219
Tracked since 1915
Census
Lynden in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,720 people with the first name Lynden, which placed it at #8,431 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
#8,431
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,720 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lynden
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lynden is White at 67.3%. The next largest groups are Black (19.4%) and Hispanic (4.5%). 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 Lynden 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 Lynden at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.3% · 1,158
- Black or African American19.4% · 333
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 77
- Two or more races4.4% · 75
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 47
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 30
Gender
Gender distribution for Lynden
Lynden is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 2,214 total registrations, 1,469 (66.4%) were male and 745 (33.6%) were female.
Lynden as a male name
- Ranked #5,787 in 2024
- 16 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (41 births)
Lynden as a female name
- Ranked #5,219 in 2024
- 25 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (52 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lynden on both sides of the split. Of the 1,716 people counted with this name, 1,099 were male (64.0%) and 617 were female (36.0%).
Popularity
Lynden: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lynden from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 660 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Lynden remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lynden 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 Lynden during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lyndens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Lynden, while Nebraska, Georgia, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lynden
The name Lynden is of English origin, derived from the Old English words "linden" or "lind," meaning lime tree or linden tree. It was initially used as a surname, referring to someone who lived near a linden tree or grove. The earliest recorded use of Lynden as a given name dates back to the 16th century.
In Anglo-Saxon England, the linden tree held significant cultural and symbolic importance. It was associated with fertility, protection, and loyalty. The name Lynden may have been chosen to evoke these qualities or as a nod to the person's connection to nature.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Lynden was Lynden Dudley (1573-1647), an English clergyman and academic. He served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford and is noted for his involvement in the Oxford Aristotelian studies.
Another notable figure was Lynden Pindling (1930-2000), a Bahamian politician who served as the first Prime Minister of the Bahamas from 1967 to 1992. He played a crucial role in the country's transition to independence and is celebrated as a national hero.
In the realm of literature, Lynden Harris (1901-1976) was an American novelist and short story writer known for her works exploring themes of race, gender, and social issues. Her novel "Eighth Avenue" (1958) received critical acclaim.
Moving to the world of sports, Lynden David Hall (born 1981) is a former professional baseball player from the Bahamas. He played in Major League Baseball for teams like the Detroit Tigers and the Milwaukee Brewers.
Lynden Blossom (born 1939) is a Canadian artist and illustrator renowned for his vibrant paintings and illustrations depicting rural life and landscapes in Canada. His works are celebrated for capturing the essence of Canadian culture and traditions.
While these are just a few examples, the name Lynden has been carried by individuals from various walks of life throughout history, each leaving their unique mark on their respective fields and cultural spheres.
People
Lynden + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lynden as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lynden: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lynden?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,885 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lynden 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 181,833 US residents.
Is Lynden a common name?
We classify Lynden as "Rare". It ranks above 93.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,214 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lynden most popular?
The single biggest year for Lynden was 2016, when 77 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lynden is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lynden in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,720 people with the name Lynden, or 0.57 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,431 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 Lynden 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 Lynden?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lynden on both sides of the split. Of the 1,716 people counted with this name, 1,099 were male (64.0%) and 617 were female (36.0%). 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 Lynden?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lynden is White at 67.3%. The next largest groups are Black (19.4%) and Hispanic (4.5%). 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 Lynden most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lynden in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.3% (1,158 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 Lynden in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lynden a male name?
Yes, 66.4% of people registered as Lynden 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 Lynden still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lynden 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 Lynden 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 have Lynden as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.