girl's name
Lucinda
loo-SIN-duh
- Origin Spanish
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 7
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 41,586
Northern Ireland
#362
1999 births
Lucinda was invented by Cervantes — the name appears in Don Quixote in 1605 and has no record before it, which makes it one of the few names on this site with a datable author.
- Lucinda is a name of Spanish origin.
- Peaked in 1957, when 1,030 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 28,581 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Lucinda over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 869 |
| 1890s | 1,042 |
| 1900s | 1,035 |
| 1910s | 1,642 |
| 1920s | 1,715 |
| 1930s | 1,383 |
| 1940s | 4,367 |
| 1950s | 8,999 |
| 1960s | 6,697 |
| 1970s | 3,644 |
| 1980s | 2,203 |
| 1990s | 1,111 |
| 2000s | 1,392 |
| 2010s | 1,603 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 710 |
What Lucinda means
Lucinda means light. The Latin lux supplies the first element and the ending is decorative, so the sense is inherited from the root rather than from the whole word.
Where Lucinda comes from
Lucinda is a literary coinage built on the Latin lux, light, with the -inda ending that also gives Belinda and Melinda. Cervantes used it in Don Quixote in 1605 and there is no earlier record, so the invention can be dated to a book. The lux root gives Lucy, Lucia and Lucius, and lucid, translucent and elucidate. Molière reused the name, which carried it into French and then English use.
Lucinda in use
Lucinda peaked in the United States in 1957, when 1,030 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. It now ranks 1330th in England and Wales on 24 births, 1747th in the United States on 116 and 2043rd in France on 15, across 41,586 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. England and Wales ran its own peak of 136 births in 1997.
How popular is Lucinda?
In 2025, Lucinda was given to 116 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Lucinda is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Lucinda
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Lucinda also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Lucinda over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Lucinda
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Lucinda in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Lucinda
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Lucinda — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Lucinda
What does the name Lucinda mean?
Light — the Latin lux, with a decorative ending.
Who invented it?
Cervantes, in Don Quixote in 1605. There is no earlier record.
Is Melinda related?
Only in pattern — the same -inda ending, which was productive for coinages.
How popular is Lucinda?
1747th in the United States, and stable rather than falling in our data.
Is Lucinda a girl's or a boy's name?
Lucinda is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Lucinda?
Lucinda has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Lucinda?
Lucinda is usually shortened to Cindy and Lucy.
Is Lucinda a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Lucinda currently ranks #1,330 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.