Linn
A surname that can point to a lake, pool, or waterfall place-name, and in some cases may also be tied to linden trees or Irish/Gaelic forms.
The #2,876 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 24,684 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Linn is most often explained as a locational name from a word meaning a pool, lake, or deep water. Old Celtic and Gaelic forms such as Welsh and Cornish/Irish cognates lie behind this sense, and some early writers also linked it to places marked by a "linn" or waterfall. In some lines, however, the name may also overlap with forms connected to linden trees or with shorter Irish family-name forms.
History
The name appears in several British and Irish surname traditions, which makes its history somewhat mixed rather than single-source. In Scotland and northern England it is often treated as a place-name surname, while Irish sources sometimes list it alongside forms such as O'Lynn and related spellings. The spelling Linn has also been used as a shortened or simplified form of longer surnames in some families.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname dictionaries often used the same little word, linn, to explain both place-names and family names because it could mean a pool, lake, or waterfall in Celtic usage.
From the historical record
“from the place abounding with linden-trees. LINN or LINNE. Local. A pool, pond, or lake. Welsh, Uyn; Cor. Br., tyn; Gaelic, linne, a pond. LINNET. A singing bird. LINTON. Local. From Lin, a lake or pool, and ton, a town. A parish in Eoxburgshire, Scotland. LIPPENCOT. Local Lippe, a German principality and town on…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names