Fun Facts About the Name Woodlyn
- 11 babies named Woodlyn: U.S. records list 11 babies given the name Woodlyn from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Woodlyn Mean?
Woodlyn is a rare modern English name built from the common noun wood - Old English wudu, Middle English wode, meaning a forest or a grove of trees - and the ending -lyn. The first element is transparent: it names wooded ground. The second element is not a meaning-bearing root here. In English names, -lyn (also spelled -lin, -line, -lene) usually works as a familiar closing element, as in Evelyn, Marilyn, Carolyn, and Gwendolyn, where it carries no separate sense of its own. It should not be confused with the independent name Lyn or Lynn, which comes from Welsh llyn, "lake," or from Old English hlynn, "torrent." A literal reading of Woodlyn as "wood plus -lyn" is therefore more accurate than interpreting the ending as "lake" or "clearing"; the name as a whole does not have a settled dictionary meaning beyond its first element.
Woodlyn Name History & Origins
Woodlyn belongs to the large group of English names formed from words for landscape and trees, alongside Woodrow, Woodson, Woodford, and Woodville. In these names the wood element is Old English wudu, which also appears in countless English place names - Wode, Wood, Woodcote, Woodham - recorded from the medieval period onward. The name Woodlyn keeps that first element but attaches the later, decorative -lyn ending rather than an Old English place-name suffix, which is why it reads as a modern formation rather than an inherited medieval name.
The same combination appears as a place name in the English-speaking world, most visibly in Woodlyn, a community in Ridley Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, on the outskirts of Philadelphia. Whether the personal name was taken over from a place of that name, or assembled independently from wood and the popular -lyn ending, is not documented. As a given name it remains uncommon and has no long recorded lineage of its own; it is best described as a twentieth- or twenty-first-century English coinage from familiar elements rather than as a name with a medieval or biblical ancestry.
How Popular is the Name Woodlyn?
Woodlyn has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2025. Its best rank was #14,839 in 2025.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #14,839 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2021 | #17,525 | 5 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Woodlyn Shapes Your Personality and Life?
To express itself, you must follow the divine law of love. You have great persistence and hate to give up. You are a good mixer, charming, magnetic and intuitive. The spirituality is the key to success. You are frank, methodical and believe in law, system and order.
You desire to inspire and lead, to control other's affairs. You are giving, courageous and bold, action oriented,energetic and strong willed. You want to make a difference in the world, and this attitude often attracts you to cultural interests, politics, social issues, and the cultivation of your creative talents.
✦ Woodlyn's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Woodlyn's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.