Lyndsay is a popular first name in many

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-speaking countries, particularly

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It can be either a feminine or a masculine name. It is a variation of many other types of spellings of the name Lyndsay, including the more well-known spelling Lindsay, as well as "Lindsey", "Linsey", "Lynsey", "Lyndsy", "Lyndsey", "Lynzee", and "Linzi".

Origins

The old

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

name for the city of

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

was Lindum Colonia, a name which harked back to the older Celtic name of "Lindon" which meant "the pool". Thus the etymology of the name is inextricably linked with the city of Lincoln in the UK. It is widely thought to originate from a twelfth-century family name in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, England, most notably Sir Walter de Lindeseya, a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

knight who accompanied

King David I David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim ( Modern: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 1124 and later King of Scotland from 1124 to 1153. The youngest son of Mal ...

upon his return to Scotland in 1124. The replacement of the "i" by a "y" is a matter of spelling preference, since in English both create the same pronunciation of the name. This may be chosen for either the aesthetic appeal of the overall word shape the usage of the "y" creates, or be connected with its increasing use as feminine name.

Scottish connection

The name is popular in Scotland, and has grown in popularity in the second half of the twentieth century. Alternatively, the spelling "Lyndsay" may be indicative of the Scottish popularisation of the name. In Scots English, for example, the old English word "Winden" (to twist") is thought to have evolved into the Scots English word "Wynd", meaning a "very narrow street". Further Scottish connections for this particular spelling come from fifteenth-century Scottish Renaissance poet Sir David Lyndsay, and the Scottish surname "Lynd", which can also be traced to the 15th century in Ayrshire.

Popularity

Until the mid twentieth century it was more popular as a name for a boy, and since the second half of the twentieth century has become much more popular as a name for a girl. The recent popularity of the name, and the relative reduction in its usage since the 1980s, might be linked to the popularity of the 1970s television series ''

The Bionic Woman ''The Bionic Woman'' is an American science fiction action-adventure television series created by Kenneth Johnson based on the 1972 novel ''Cyborg'' by Martin Caidin, starring Lindsay Wagner that aired from January 14, 1976, to May 13, 1978. ' ...

'' which starred the actress

Lindsay Wagner Lindsay Jean Wagner (born June 22, 1949) is an American film and television actress, model, author, singer, and acting coach. Wagner is best known for her leading role in the American science-fiction television series '' The Bionic Woman'' (197 ...

References

{{reflist English-language unisex given names English unisex given names English masculine given names English feminine given names Scottish unisex given names Scottish masculine given names Scottish feminine given names English toponymic surnames Surnames of Scottish origin