Lindsay was the original spelling of the name which is now commonly spelled Lindsey, Linzi, Linsie etc. It was originally a Scottish surname, possibly coming from elements meaning "Lincoln [place name]" and "Island." It may also be derived from an Old English word for "island" + an obscure personal name "Lealla" or "Lelli." Used (albeit fairly infrequently) for boys until the 1970s, Lindsay took off as a girls' name. Its popularity for girls is probably due to a trend of -y surnames being used for girls (Tracy, Kelly, Kimberly etc.) at the time + it already sounded similar to the names Linda and Lynn which were declining in popularity. The clincher was the rise to fame of American actress Lindsay Wagner (b. 1949) known for playing the title character in the television show The Bionic Woman.See Also: Lindsey