Lin
Lin is the Mandarin romanization of the Chinese surname written 林, which has many variations depending on the language and is also used in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia.
- Chinese
- French
- Russian
- Ukrainian
Meaning & Origin of Lin
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Lin is the Mandarin romanization of the Chinese surname written 林, which has many variations depending on the language and is also used in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name)
- Chinese
- French
- Russian
- Ukrainian
- Bulgarian
The Story of Lin
As a girl name
Lin first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a girl name in 1917, with 5 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 1952: 35 births, good for #1,641 nationwide. About 26% of every Lin on record arrived during the 1950s, its defining decade. Lin last appeared in the published SSA data in 2024, with 6 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 1K Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1910s to the 2020s.
As a boy name
Lin first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a boy name in 1898, with 5 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 1959: 28 births, good for #1,501 nationwide. About 24% of every Lin on record arrived during the 1950s, its defining decade. Lin last appeared in the published SSA data in 2024, with 5 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 863 Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1890s to the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Variants & Related Forms of Lin
Foreign forms, alternate spellings, and nicknames that share roots with Lin. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Names that sound like Lin
Phonetically similar names — useful when Lin is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Lin
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About the name Lin
Lin is a unisex baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1917 and has accumulated 1K births in the dataset. Lin's peak popularity came in 1952 when it ranked #1,641. Use the chart and map above to compare Lin's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 1952 →
- Names of the 1950s →
- Names starting with "L" →
- Browse all girl names →
- Top names of 2026 →
- Browse unisex names →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.