Lindsey

Where the name comes from

• English (place name), from Old English and Brittonic
  Island of Lincoln
  Lindissi (an early form of the Lindsey place name, based on the old British name of Lincoln) + Old English ēg, 'island'
  Lindsey is a district in Lincolnshire, England. It was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom about 1,400 years ago. The first part of the name comes from the old British name of the city of Lincoln, which goes back to a Celtic word for 'pool' or 'lake.' The Old English word for 'island' was added later because fens and marshes almost cut the area off. It was never a true island. The place gave rise to the surnames Lindsay and Lindsey, and the given name grew out of those surnames.
• Irish (surname only)
  No separate meaning. Lindsey was used as an English stand-in for several Irish surnames.
  Ó Loingsigh (Lynch), Mac Giolla Fhionntóg (McClintock), Ó Fhloinn (Flynn, Lynn)
  Some Irish families named Lindsey took the name as an English form of a Gaelic surname. They are not descended from the Lincolnshire place.
• Popular meaning
  'Island of linden trees' or 'linden trees by the water' (popular)
  These meanings appear on many baby-name sites. Name scholars trace the first part of the name to the old name of Lincoln, not to the linden tree.

Lindsey across traditions

• Scottish. The surname reached Scotland early and became the name of a powerful noble family, Clan Lindsay.
• American. Southern families started regularly using surnames as girls' first names. A girl named Lindsey shows up in the US census as early as 1846. In the 1980s Lindsey became one of the most popular girls' names in the United States. Its twin spelling, Lindsay, was almost as popular.
• English. Lindsey is still a place name in Lincolnshire. It survives in the districts of East Lindsey and West Lindsey.

Who carried it

• Lindsey Ann Keenin (Born 1846): The earliest girl named Lindsey found in the US census. She was born in Tippah County, Mississippi.
• Theophilus Lindsey (1723–1808): English theologian who helped found the Unitarian movement in England.
• Lindsey Buckingham (Born 1949): American guitarist and singer-songwriter, best known from Fleetwood Mac.
• Lindsey Vonn (Born 1984): American alpine skier and Olympic gold medalist.

Forms in other languages

Lindsay, Linsey, Lyndsey, Lyndsay, Lynsey, Linzey, Linzy

Lindsey in letter-number systems

Hebrew, Greek and other traditions gave every letter a number, and read meaning into the totals. These are the counts, computed; the readings are inside the Innerverse.