Lindsey is an Old English and Scottish surname meaning "Lincoln's marsh" or "island of linden trees" — from the place name Lindsey in Lincolnshire, England. With over 157,000 SSA records and a 1984 peak, Lindsey was one of the defining girls' names of the American eighties. It is now solidly in grandmother-name territory for young parents, which is precisely where rehabilitation begins.
From Scottish Surname to Eighties Staple
Lindsey began as a topographic surname — Lincolnshire's ancient sub-kingdom of Lindsey lent its name to a Scottish clan, then to given name use in America. Like many surname-names that became girls' names in the mid-twentieth century, it arrived through a kind of casual transfer: Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac (a male bearer) brought the name significant exposure in 1977, while American parents then applied it predominantly to daughters through the 1980s. Old English surname-names like Lindsey, Ashley, and Whitney share this path from geographic place to female given name.
The Spelling Divide
Lindsay (with an a) and Lindsey (with an e) represent the two dominant spellings — Lindsay being more common overall, Lindsey slightly more associated with the 1980s American peak. Both appear in roughly equal usage, which means anyone named Lindsey will spend some time correcting the vowel. Compare Lindsey and Lindsay, the difference is subtle but consistent enough to generate a lifetime of correction.
The Counter-Reading: Rehabilitation Is Closer Than It Looks
1984 peak names are now carried by parents in their late thirties. Their daughters would be the first generation to receive a name that reads as "my mom's generation", which is exactly how vintage revivals begin. 1980s names are beginning to attract the nostalgia that 1950s names attracted in the 1990s. Lindsey, with its clean sound and genuine historical roots, is a reasonable candidate for a quiet revival among parents who want something that sounds familiar but statistically unusual for a baby born today.