From the city of Lincoln, from Celtic lindo, "pool", and Latin colonia — lake colony. Used as a first name in America almost entirely in honour of the president.
Lincoln ranks 69th among American boys in 2025, with 4,778 born that year. Its best year was 2017, when 8,443 babies were given the name, ranking 41st. The typical living American called Lincoln is about 9 years old today. It is relatively most common in Wyoming, where it accounts for 0.74% of births.
Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.