# Lindsay (surname)

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

A Scottish habitational surname from Old English from Lindsey in Lincolnshire, from the Old English name of the city of Lincoln, "Isle of Lind" ("Isle of Lincoln") in reference to it being surrounded by fenland.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 33,255 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,052 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 9,284 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.8% (31,744 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈlɪnzi/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Lindsey, Lyndsey |

## Etymology

From Lindsey in Lincolnshire, from Old English Lindesēġe, Lindesīġe (“Isle of Lind”), the Old English name of the city of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, in which "Lind" comes from the Common Brittonic form of the name of Lincoln and "isle" refers to Lincoln being surrounded by fenland; from Proto-Brythonic *llɨnn (“pool”), from Proto-Celtic *lindos (“lake, liquid”), in reference to the Brayford + Old English ēġ (“island”); cf. modern Welsh llyn and Dublin.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Lindsay 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) | 72% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 22% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.4% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 2.0% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Lindsay in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

## People named Lindsay

- Jeff Lindsay, American playwright and crime novelist (born 1952)
- Vachel Lindsay, American poet (1879–1931)
- Margaret Lindsay, American actress (1910-1981)
- John Lindsay, American politician (1921–2000)
- Joan Lindsay, Australian writer (1896-1984)
- Arto Lindsay, American musician
- Robert Lindsay, British actor
- Howard Lindsay, American theatrical producer, director, playwright, librettist and actor (1889–1968)
- Robert B. Lindsay, American politician (1824-1902)
- James A. Lindsay, American mathematician, author, and cultural critic
- Amy Lindsay, American actress
- Mark Lindsay, American rock singer

and 8 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Lindsey, Lindquist, Lindstrom, Lindsley, Landis, Lentz, Lantz, Lewandowski, Lindgren, Lundgren, Lundquist, Landes.

## 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.