How rare is the name Linus?

3,674 people in the United States have the first name Linus, about 1 in 82,208. It ranks #4,880 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

LINUS

#4,880

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
3,674
About
1 in 82,208
This common or more
84.6%
Who bears it

Of the 3,674 people named Linus, 66% reported their origin as White, 10.6% as Black and 10.4% as Asian or Pacific Islander. 99.1% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Linus peaked in 2017, when 166 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18822025
Peak year
2017
Births that year
166
In 2025*
82 ▼51%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 5,342 babies have been given the name since 1882. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Linus by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1910s, when it ranked #1,944. The largest share of babies named Linus, 31.8%, were born in 2013 or later.

1880s#2,00831
1890s#2,70926
1900s#3,41524
1910s#1,944340
1920s#1,956504
1930s#2,347324
1940s#2,528340
1950s#3,303281
1960s#4,003234
1970s#6,771138
1980s#9,681106
1990s#7,651217
2000s#4,308693
2010s#2,8211,396
2020s#3,245688
Before 19011.2%
Greatest Generation 1901–2714.5%
Silent Generation 1928–4511.8%
Baby boom 1946–6410%
Generation X 1965–804.8%
Millennials 1981–963.7%
Generation Z 1997–1222.2%
2013 and later31.8%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Linus is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Linus has been most common in Minnesota (5.5×), Wisconsin (2.8×), and Indiana (2.4×), and least common in Michigan (0.8×).

1,962 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Spelled almost the same

One first name in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Linus, most common first.

Also a last name

As a last name, Linus ranks #121,931 of 156,621, with 149 people. See Linus as a last name

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