Lyn
Lyn was given to 9 girls in 2025, #10,575 among girls’ names; 8,781 Americans have been recorded with it since 1896 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 6,460 Americans named Lyn and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (74% of everyone recorded); the median is 67 years old and half are between 58 and 74.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Lyn by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Lyn mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Lyn is “a short form of female given names ending in -lyn, such as Evelyn and Carolyn; also used as a formal unisex middle name.”
/ˈlɪn/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Lyn?
#10,575 among girls’ names, 2025
Lyn rose from #15,645 in 2015 to #10,575 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 3.4 to 5.6 per million.
330 babies in 1954, the peak
Lyn peaked in 1954, when 330 babies were given it (274 girls, #535 among girls’ names). The 9 births of 2025 are 3% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 9 | #10,575 | under 5 | |
| 2024 | 8 | #11,736 | under 5 | |
| 2022 | 6 | #14,617 | under 5 | |
| 2020 | 5 | #16,580 | under 5 | |
| 2017 | 7 | #13,545 | under 5 | |
| 2016 | 8 | #12,436 | under 5 | |
| 2015 | 6 | #15,645 | under 5 | |
| 2013 | 5 | #18,206 | under 5 | |
| 2012 | 7 | #14,407 | under 5 | |
| 2011 | 7 | #14,212 | under 5 |
Every recorded year (107)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 8 | #12,986 | under 5 | |
| 2009 | 6 | #16,437 | under 5 | |
| 2008 | 6 | #16,666 | under 5 | |
| 2007 | 5 | #19,353 | under 5 | |
| 2006 | 11 | #10,332 | under 5 | |
| 2005 | 7 | #13,878 | under 5 | |
| 2004 | 11 | #9,629 | under 5 | |
| 2003 | 7 | #13,269 | under 5 | |
| 2002 | 6 | #14,681 | under 5 | |
| 2001 | 9 | #10,634 | under 5 | |
| 2000 | 5 | #16,526 | under 5 | |
| 1999 | 5 | #15,836 | under 5 | |
| 1998 | 15 | #6,569 | under 5 | |
| 1997 | 13 | #7,110 | under 5 | |
| 1996 | 5 | #14,852 | under 5 | |
| 1995 | 11 | #7,848 | under 5 | |
| 1994 | 14 | #6,517 | 7 | #7,448 |
| 1993 | 13 | #6,879 | 5 | #9,599 |
| 1992 | 14 | #6,509 | under 5 | |
| 1991 | 13 | #6,823 | under 5 | |
| 1990 | 24 | #4,176 | 7 | #6,880 |
| 1989 | 19 | #4,771 | 6 | #7,541 |
| 1988 | 18 | #4,761 | under 5 | |
| 1987 | 25 | #3,582 | 5 | #7,674 |
| 1986 | 14 | #5,341 | under 5 | |
| 1985 | 18 | #4,371 | 8 | #4,985 |
| 1984 | 21 | #3,813 | 5 | #6,943 |
| 1983 | 29 | #2,949 | 5 | #6,905 |
| 1982 | 32 | #2,873 | 10 | #4,117 |
| 1981 | 39 | #2,471 | 7 | #5,265 |
| 1980 | 37 | #2,569 | 8 | #4,775 |
| 1979 | 50 | #2,037 | 11 | #3,724 |
| 1978 | 40 | #2,291 | 8 | #4,410 |
| 1977 | 48 | #2,011 | 9 | #4,035 |
| 1976 | 51 | #1,828 | 9 | #3,889 |
| 1975 | 71 | #1,455 | 12 | #3,172 |
| 1974 | 60 | #1,589 | 10 | #3,469 |
| 1973 | 81 | #1,283 | 17 | #2,368 |
| 1972 | 81 | #1,271 | 14 | #2,613 |
| 1971 | 111 | #1,091 | 31 | #1,581 |
| 1970 | 106 | #1,115 | 25 | #1,773 |
| 1969 | 120 | #988 | 28 | #1,548 |
| 1968 | 122 | #937 | 49 | #1,061 |
| 1967 | 145 | #840 | 20 | #1,794 |
| 1966 | 131 | #878 | 22 | #1,673 |
| 1965 | 161 | #783 | 25 | #1,579 |
| 1964 | 201 | #733 | 35 | #1,340 |
| 1963 | 198 | #729 | 32 | #1,392 |
| 1962 | 279 | #597 | 23 | #1,695 |
| 1961 | 214 | #711 | 34 | #1,379 |
| 1960 | 216 | #693 | 34 | #1,376 |
| 1959 | 200 | #707 | 44 | #1,179 |
| 1958 | 238 | #638 | 27 | #1,523 |
| 1957 | 280 | #576 | 35 | #1,338 |
| 1956 | 277 | #563 | 41 | #1,198 |
| 1955 | 268 | #553 | 36 | #1,264 |
| 1954 | 274 | #535 | 56 | #1,002 |
| 1953 | 261 | #533 | 51 | #1,017 |
| 1952 | 245 | #546 | 45 | #1,089 |
| 1951 | 223 | #573 | 43 | #1,103 |
| 1950 | 182 | #630 | 61 | #881 |
| 1949 | 195 | #593 | 42 | #1,089 |
| 1948 | 200 | #587 | 44 | #1,068 |
| 1947 | 225 | #569 | 59 | #911 |
| 1946 | 204 | #554 | 50 | #949 |
| 1945 | 138 | #619 | 28 | #1,258 |
| 1944 | 125 | #661 | 37 | #1,098 |
| 1943 | 104 | #760 | 29 | #1,297 |
| 1942 | 77 | #895 | 27 | #1,345 |
| 1941 | 60 | #952 | 36 | #1,101 |
| 1940 | 59 | #940 | 27 | #1,301 |
| 1939 | 52 | #985 | 26 | #1,312 |
| 1938 | 35 | #1,241 | 18 | #1,661 |
| 1937 | 32 | #1,296 | 20 | #1,563 |
| 1936 | 23 | #1,575 | 19 | #1,577 |
| 1935 | 20 | #1,749 | 10 | #2,480 |
| 1934 | 28 | #1,393 | 18 | #1,706 |
| 1933 | 18 | #1,885 | 10 | #2,472 |
| 1932 | 18 | #1,921 | 8 | #3,004 |
| 1931 | 26 | #1,481 | 9 | #2,795 |
| 1930 | 14 | #2,378 | 9 | #2,920 |
| 1929 | 15 | #2,259 | under 5 | |
| 1928 | 14 | #2,460 | 6 | #3,972 |
| 1927 | 13 | #2,638 | 7 | #3,662 |
| 1926 | 13 | #2,653 | 6 | #4,012 |
| 1925 | 6 | #4,747 | under 5 | |
| 1924 | 13 | #2,758 | under 5 | |
| 1923 | under 5 | 6 | #4,077 | |
| 1921 | 6 | #4,836 | 10 | #2,910 |
| 1920 | under 5 | 6 | #4,092 | |
| 1919 | under 5 | 6 | #3,998 | |
| 1918 | 6 | #4,610 | under 5 | |
| 1917 | 10 | #2,993 | 6 | #3,813 |
| 1916 | under 5 | 6 | #3,731 | |
| 1915 | 9 | #3,031 | 6 | #3,675 |
| 1914 | under 5 | 5 | #3,563 | |
| 1896 | under 5 | 5 | #1,200 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Lyn a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 8,781 Americans recorded as Lyn, 82% are girls and 18% boys. In 2025 it went to 9 girls; SSA lists no boys with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Lyn: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Lyn, and how old are they?
6,460 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 74% of the 8,781 Americans ever recorded as Lyn. The median Lyn alive today is 67 years old; half are between 58 and 74.
The 2020 Census counted 8,755 people named Lyn (7,668 women and girls, 1,087 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 7,064 born in the U.S. The Census count is 24% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census records the name people give, which for many is the short form Lyn rather than the name on their birth record, and it counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 450 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 3,910 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,560 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 361 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 127 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 54 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Lyn born?
The states with the most babies named Lyn are California, New York and Massachusetts, with 40% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Massachusetts is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 877 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| New York | 558 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Massachusetts | 372 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| Pennsylvania | 346 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Illinois | 321 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Ohio | 298 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Michigan | 269 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Texas | 252 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Wisconsin | 174 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Washington | 114 | not ranked | 0.8× |
Where Lyn is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Lyn is most over-represented in Massachusetts: since 1910 it was given 1.4 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Lyn with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 6 names spelled alike, given to 248,004 babies since 1880, Lyn is the second most given (3.5% of them). In 2025 it was given to 9 of their 116 babies (7.8%), the third most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Lyn
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Lyn and names like it
- Compare Lyn and LynnBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sLyn peaked in 1954.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Lyn since 1910.
- The top names of 1954The year the most babies were named Lyn.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Lyn alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with LMost given first.