girl's name
Lynette
li-NET
- Origin Welsh
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 7
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 44,307
Ireland
#512
1994 births
Lynette entered English through Tennyson, who reshaped a Welsh name for the Idylls of the King — Luned became Lynette, and the spelling he used is the one that survived. Luned appears in the Mabinogion as the maiden who helps Owain.
- Lynette is a name of Welsh origin.
- Peaked in 1965, when 1,413 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 50,234 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1897.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Lynette over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1890s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1890s | 6 |
| 1900s | 20 |
| 1910s | 208 |
| 1920s | 455 |
| 1930s | 851 |
| 1940s | 3,913 |
| 1950s | 10,134 |
| 1960s | 12,775 |
| 1970s | 7,302 |
| 1980s | 3,529 |
| 1990s | 1,764 |
| 2000s | 1,225 |
| 2010s | 853 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 410 |
What Lynette means
Lynette means idol or image on the Welsh reading, from eilun. A French diminutive of Lynn is also proposed, which would make it unrelated and much more recent.
Where Lynette comes from
Lynette is Tennyson's respelling of Lynette in Gareth and Lynette, itself from the Welsh Luned or Eluned — generally traced to eilun, an idol or image. Luned appears in the Mabinogion as the maiden who helps Owain, so the name is medieval Welsh long before it is Victorian English. A competing account makes it simply Lynn with a French -ette, which would sever the Welsh connection entirely.
Lynette in use
Lynette peaked in the United States in 1965, when 1,413 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in exactly one of the six markets we track, at 2608th in the United States on 66 births, across 44,307 lifetime births. Scotland ran its own peak of 52 births in 1977 and Ireland 19 in 1978, and our records carry the name from 1897.
How popular is Lynette?
In 2025, Lynette was given to 66 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Lynette 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 Lynette
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Lynette also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Lynette over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Lynette
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.
Lynette 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.
- Dutch
- Linette
Sibling names for Lynette
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Lynette — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Lynette
What does the name Lynette mean?
An idol or image, on the Welsh reading — from eilun, through Luned.
Did Tennyson invent it?
He reshaped the Welsh Luned for the Idylls of the King, and his spelling stuck.
Who was Luned?
The maiden who helps Owain in the Mabinogion.
How popular is Lynette?
2608th in the United States, down from a 1965 peak of 1,413 births.
Is Lynette a girl's or a boy's name?
Lynette is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Lynette?
Lynette has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Lynette?
Lynette is usually shortened to Lyn.
Is Lynette a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Lynette currently ranks #2,608 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.