girl's name
Lynda
LIN-duh
- Origin American
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 85,578
Northern Ireland
#395
1997 births
Lynda means lime tree, from Spanish and Germanic roots that disagree — the pretty reading comes from the Spanish linda, and the tree from a Germanic element, and neither is settled. It peaked in 1947, and holds 85,323 lifetime births.
- Lynda is a name of American origin.
- Peaked in 1947, when 4,850 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 110,522 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1882.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Lynda 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 | 16 |
| 1890s | 39 |
| 1900s | 42 |
| 1910s | 148 |
| 1920s | 282 |
| 1930s | 2,195 |
| 1940s | 28,010 |
| 1950s | 22,731 |
| 1960s | 15,705 |
| 1970s | 4,357 |
| 1980s | 2,293 |
| 1990s | 1,058 |
| 2000s | 683 |
| 2010s | 400 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 139 |
What Lynda means
Lynda means pretty if taken from Spanish, or lime tree if taken from Germanic. The two proposals come from different languages and the sources do not agree between them.
Where Lynda comes from
Lynda respells Linda, whose origin is genuinely contested. One line takes it from the Spanish and Italian linda, pretty, itself from the Latin limpidus, clear. Another derives it from a Germanic element lind, a lime or linden tree — whose soft wood was used for shields, so the sense extends to a shield and then to gentleness. Belinda and Rosalinda carry the same ending. The Y-spelling is a twentieth-century American variant.
Lynda in use
Lynda peaked in the United States in 1947, when 4,850 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in three of the seven markets we track — 1175th in France on 30 births, 3625th in Canada and 4568th in the United States on 30 — across 85,578 lifetime births. France ranks it more than three thousand places above America.
How popular is Lynda?
In 2025, Lynda was given to 30 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Lynda 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 Lynda
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Lynda also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Lynda over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Lynda
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.
Lynda 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 Lynda
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Lynda — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Lynda
What does the name Lynda mean?
Pretty through Spanish, or lime tree through Germanic. Neither is settled.
Why would a tree mean a shield?
Lime wood was used for shields, so the Germanic element extends from the tree to the object.
Is it Lynda or Linda?
Linda is the standard spelling; Lynda is a twentieth-century American variant.
How popular is Lynda?
1175th in France, which ranks it far above the United States.
Is Lynda a girl's or a boy's name?
Lynda is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Lynda?
Lynda has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Lynda?
Lynda is usually shortened to Lyn.
Is Lynda a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Lynda currently ranks #1,175 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.