Lindsey

Meaning of Lindsey

Lindsey began life as a British place-name—Old English Lindesege, “Lincoln’s marsh or island”—that migrated to Scotland as a clan surname before crossing the Atlantic and settling comfortably into the American first-name pool. In the United States it first registered faintly in the 1940s, climbed methodically through the civil-rights era, then surged to a high-water mark of 35th most popular girl name in 1984, riding the broader 1980s fashion for tailored, androgynous surnames-turned-given-names. Since that apex Lindsey has traced a steady downward slope, ranking just outside the national Top 750 in 2024, yet it remains numerically durable—roughly 180 newborn Lindseys each year still insure playground recognizability. Linguistically, the two-syllable LINZ-ee offers an easy, friendly cadence, while its alternative spellings (Lindsay, Lynsey, et al.) give parents low-risk room for personalization. Cultural footnotes range from news desks to country music stages, reinforcing its versatile, quietly competent image. In short, Lindsey is a name with Anglo-American roots, a well-documented popularity arc, and a timeless pronunciation that rarely trips the tongue.