Linda

What does the name Linda mean?

Linda began as a short form of Germanic women's names ending in -lind or -linde, such as Sieglinde and Dietlinde. Wiktionary traces this element to Proto-Germanic *linþaz 'gentle, mild', related to English lithe. The name was later linked with Spanish linda 'pretty', which is unrelated though it helped the name's appeal. It became known through 19th-century literature and Donizetti's opera Linda di Chamounix (1842).

*linþaz (Proto-Germanic, “gentle, mild, soft”)

How sure is this? Probable. Some references gloss the element lind as 'linden tree' or 'shield'; Wiktionary prefers 'gentle, soft'.

Other explanations you may read: From Spanish linda 'pretty'.

Related names: Lynda, Lindy, Belinda, Melinda.

See also: Germanic names.

Nicknames for Linda

The usual nicknames for Linda are Lindy and Lin. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Linda in the last five years, 32 were named Lindy, against 10 twenty years earlier.

Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Lindas go by each one.

Linda popularity since 1880

A few boys are given the name too: 3,756 since 1925.

How popular is Linda, counting every spelling?

Linda is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #825 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #902 for Linda on its own. Together these spellings went to 324 girls in 2025.

Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.

How many kids will share the name Linda?

294 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Linda (0.08 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Linda born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 29 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Linda.

Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.

How old are people named Linda?

About 1,054,400 people born in the US named Linda are alive today, with a median age of 73; half are between 66 and 78. That makes Linda a name most people associate with older generations.

Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.

Linda by state

How common Linda was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Pennsylvania (3.8×), Kentucky (1.8×), Ohio (1.6×), Wisconsin (1.5×), Indiana (1.5×). In 20 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.

Names with a similar history

These names rose and fell in step with Linda: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Linda, they share its era and feel.

• Sharon
• Diane
• Kathleen
• Sandra
• Judy
• Janice

Questions about the name Linda