Lindsey
A surname most often taken from a place-name, especially the old district of Lindsey in Lincolnshire.
The #529 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 4,842 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Lindsey is generally a locational surname, taken from the district of Lindsey in Lincolnshire or from other places of the same name. The place-name is usually explained as meaning “linden island” or “island of lime trees,” from Old English elements for the lime tree and an island or dry tract in marshland. Some 19th-century writers also linked it to the manor of Lindsey in Essex, so the surname may have more than one local source.
History
Bardsley notes Lindsey as a local surname connected with the Lincolnshire district called the Parts of Lindsey, while Lower explicitly says the name is from the manor of Lindsey in Essex. Barber likewise treats it as a place-name surname. In practice, the surname may have arisen independently from different places named Lindsey, which is common for English locational surnames.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The historic Lincolnshire area called the Parts of Lindsey preserves an old regional name that also lives on in the surname.
From the historical record
“from the manor of Lindsey in Essex. LINDSEY. See Lindsay. LINDUS. Perhaps Liudores, a village in Fifeshire. LINEKER. Probably from A-Sax. linece, a linnet. Ferguson. I should prefer Liuacre, a township iu Lancashire, as its source. LINFIELD. See Lindfield.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom