# Linda (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/linda/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from German.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | German |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 582 |
| US rank (2010) | 38,103 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 530,491 people |
| Change since 2000 | -34.1% (883 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈlɪndə/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Lynda |

## Etymology

Latinised short form of Germanic compound names ending in -lind, -linde (“tender, soft”) (English -inda), such as Sieglinde and Dietlinde, and earlier names such as Old High German Irmilinda and Old Dutch Frithelind, from Proto-Germanic *linþaz (“gentle, mild”), whence also Old English līþe (“gentle, mild, pliable, limber”) (English lithe). Later misassociated with unrelated Spanish linda (“beautiful”). The name became known through 19th century literature and the opera Linda di Chamounix (1842). More at lithe. The coordination language is named after Linda Lovelace, a reference to the programming language Ada, itself named after Ada Lovelace.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Linda in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 77% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 9.1% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 8.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 3.4% |

## Similar surnames

Lind, Landa, Landau, Lindo, Linde, Lint, Lindow, Lund, Land, Lundy, Lent, Lamothe.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.