Lynley
- Gender
- Girl
- Say it
- LIN-lee
- Origin
- English
- US rank, 2025
- #5,553 for girls
Lynley is a girls' name of English origin, meaning “flax or lime-tree clearing”. In 2025 it ranked 5,553rd for girls in the US (22 babies).
What does Lynley mean?
English: English place-name surname
“flax or lime-tree clearing”
English surname; Inspector Lynley is the aristocratic detective of Elizabeth George's crime novels.
Is Lynley a girl's or a boy's name?
Lynley is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 22 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.
How popular is Lynley in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- #5,553among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 22about 1 in 73,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Fallingdown 30% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 22 girls in the US were named Lynley, making it the 5,553rd most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 6,079th. Its busiest year was 2016, with 46 girls. It first appears in the records in 1962.
Half of all the girls named Lynley in the US since 1880 were born between 1988 and 2017, the years shaded on the chart below.
In 2025, 370 girls in the US were given Lynley or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #737, up from #5,553 for this spelling alone.
Lynley in the US, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 22 | #5,553 |
| 2024 | 25 | #5,145 |
| 2023 | 24 | #5,245 |
| 2022 | 20 | #5,981 |
| 2021 | 40 | #3,734 |
| 2020 | 19 | #6,079 |
| 2019 | 43 | #3,551 |
| 2018 | 40 | #3,738 |
| 2017 | 34 | #4,219 |
| 2016 | 46 | #3,411 |
| 2015 | 34 | #4,231 |
| 2014 | 33 | #4,348 |
| 2013 | 32 | #4,420 |
| 2012 | 25 | #5,396 |
| 2011 | 31 | #4,567 |
| 2010 | 22 | #5,975 |
| 2009 | 23 | #5,889 |
| 2008 | 18 | #7,069 |
| 2007 | 20 | #6,548 |
| 2006 | 25 | #5,382 |
| 2005 | 16 | #7,133 |
| 2004 | 15 | #7,386 |
| 2003 | 10 | #9,666 |
| 2002 | 6 | #13,589 |
| 2001 | 8 | #11,013 |
| 2000 | 5 | #15,024 |
| 1999 | 0 | – |
| 1998 | 8 | #10,116 |
| 1997 | 9 | #9,012 |
| 1996 | 0 | – |
| 1995 | 8 | #9,548 |
| 1994 | 5 | #13,423 |
| 1993 | 9 | #8,712 |
| 1992 | 11 | #7,504 |
| 1991 | 15 | #5,943 |
| 1990 | 9 | #8,495 |
| 1989 | 22 | #4,242 |
| 1988 | 26 | #3,580 |
| 1987 | 12 | #5,918 |
| 1986 | 6 | #9,540 |
| 1985 | 0 | – |
| 1984 | 6 | #9,139 |
| 1983 | 10 | #6,210 |
| 1982 | 9 | #6,886 |
| 1981 | 6 | #9,108 |
| 1980 | 16 | #4,516 |
| 1979 | 10 | #6,188 |
| 1978 | 10 | #5,957 |
| 1977 | 9 | #6,338 |
| 1976 | 6 | #8,154 |
| 1975 | 9 | #5,982 |
| 1974 | 10 | #5,359 |
| 1973 | 0 | – |
| 1972 | 8 | #5,957 |
| 1971 | 9 | #5,541 |
| 1970 | 12 | #4,491 |
| 1969 | 19 | #3,101 |
| 1968 | 5 | #7,014 |
| 1967 | 11 | #4,052 |
| 1966 | 11 | #3,958 |
| 1965 | 7 | #5,288 |
| 1964 | 10 | #4,354 |
| 1963 | 12 | #3,800 |
| 1962 | 10 | #4,262 |
Nicknames for Lynley
Names like Lynley
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Riley Lainey Kinsley Hadley Bailey Kenley Londyn Ashley Finley Blakely Oakley Kinley
Other spellings of Lynley
More English names
Lily Evelyn Hudson Ivy Harper Grace Violet Willow Daisy Poppy Mason Cooper Ruby Hallie Hazel Carter
Sources
Figures from Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Lynley: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/lynley, updated 20 October 2026.