MEANING & HISTORY
What does Lincoln mean?
Lincoln is a place-related surname transferred into given-name use. The English city’s name continues Latin Lindum Colonia: Lindum reflects a Brittonic pool or lake word, while colonia refers to a Roman settlement.
Some later given names honor Abraham Lincoln, which is a particular naming motive rather than the root meaning. The historical compound does not simply mean lake town in modern English.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
EnglishEtymology & source
Inherited from Middle English Lincolne, from Old English Lincolle, Lindcolen, Lindcylene, from Latin Lindum Colōnia (“the Roman settlement Lindum Colonia”), from Proto-Brythonic *llɨnn (“pool”), from Proto-Celtic *lindos (“lake, liquid”), in reference to the Brayford. In the United States, many of the places established since 1865 are named after Abraham Lincoln.
A male given name transferred from the surname, of American usage, originally in honor of Abraham Lincoln.
Wiktionary: Lincoln (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
2
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Lincoln in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Lincoln
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Lilian♂♀Lily-associated name; also linked with Elizabeth
- Lillian♀Name associated with the lily flower
- Lily♀The lily flower
- Lina♀Short form of names ending in lina
- Linda♀Soft or tender; also associated with beautiful
- Lindsay♀From Lindsey, the island of Lincoln
- Lionel·Little lion
- Lito♂Familiar form from Spanish diminutive names
What rhymes with Lincoln?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Explore Lincoln further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wiktionary contributors — Lincoln (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Lincoln (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.
- Behind the Name: lincoln (opens in a new tab)
Independent onomastic comparison and qualifications to the proposed origin.