Lincoln
Torn between Lincoln and another name? Compare them side by side →
The story
Lincoln begins as a city before it becomes a surname or a presidential name. The Romans called the English place Lindum Colonia, combining a Celtic word for lake or pool with Latin colonia, colony. At Roman Lincoln, a colonia was a high-status town for retired soldiers, and the settlement grew toward Brayford Pool and a trading river. The name therefore starts with a pool, a colony, and civic life. Its later American weight comes from Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation. The document declared enslaved people in designated rebellious areas free and changed the Civil War's legal and military stakes. Its reach was real but limited: it did not end slavery throughout the country, excluded loyal border states and some Union-held areas, and depended on Union victory. Lincoln carries both layers, an old city beside a consequential but bounded act, without assigning either history or politics to every bearer.
How popular is Lincoln around the world?
In the United States, 34,233 babies were named Lincoln between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 33 boys were registered as Lincoln in 2017.
Lincoln is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, Canada, New Zealand, England and Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Brazil, Mexico City and Spain.
United States
1 in 640
In the United States, 34,233 babies were named Lincoln between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Lincoln peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 5602017
In South Australia, 33 boys were registered as Lincoln in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Canada
1 in 910
In Canada, 400 boys named Lincoln were born in 2024, the 67th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
New Zealand
1 in 1,300
In New Zealand, 43 boys named Lincoln were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
England and Wales
1 in 3,900
In England and Wales, 151 boys named Lincoln were born in 2025, the 302nd most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Ireland
1 in 6,800
In Ireland, 8 boys named Lincoln were born in 2025, the 432nd most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Scotland
1 in 7,600
In Scotland, 6 boys named Lincoln were registered in 2024, the 478th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Brazil
1 in 31,000
At the 2022 census, 6,547 people in Brazil were named Lincoln, ranked 2,272nd, with a median age of 30.
Among people named Lincoln living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 311 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Mexico City City
1 in 120,000
In Mexico City, there was 1 registration of Lincoln in 2022.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Spain
1 in 1.1M
In Spain, 42 residents are named Lincoln, ranked 16,789th among men, with a mean age of 30 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Argentina
last on record 2019
Lincoln is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Austria
last on record 2022
Lincoln is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Chile
last on record 2020
Lincoln is not on the 2021 record for Chile, where nametree keeps the spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Montevideo City
last on record 2000
Lincoln is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
New South Wales
outside the top 100
Lincoln is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
Not on the record in Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Lincoln
Most people given the name Lincoln in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Lincoln · Names that go with Lincoln · Nicknames for Lincoln · Middle names for Lincoln
The Lincoln deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Lincoln truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Lincoln fits with your family’s names and surname.
Does Lincoln fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Lincoln to your family’s tree →