Is National Linda Day a public holiday?

No. It is an unofficial name-day observance, not a federal or public holiday, so businesses and schools stay open and it is a normal working day.

Who started National Linda Day and why is it on May 17?

The honest answer is that no one knows. No documented founder, proclamation, or establishment record exists, and no source explains why May 17 was chosen; it simply circulates on online holiday calendars with that date.

Does Linda mean beautiful in Spanish?

Spanish and Portuguese do use linda to mean beautiful, but that is a coincidental overlap, not the name's origin. Linda comes from the Germanic element lind, meaning soft, flexible, or tender.

Is National Linda Day the same as the traditional Linda name day?

No. The traditional Linda name day falls on different dates by country and never on May 17, for example January 9 in the United States and June 20 in Sweden. National Linda Day on May 17 is a separate US observance.

How do you celebrate National Linda Day?

People reach out to friends and relatives named Linda, play the 1946 song that made the name famous, or share its history. There are no formal rituals since the day has no official organizer.

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National Linda Day

A name-day observance on May 17 celebrating people named Linda and the mid-century song and naming history behind the name.

Monday

May 2027

Last updated April 16, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar Team

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YEARLY DATEMay 17

OBSERVED INUnited States

CATEGORYNames

ORIGIN

Community Origin

FOUNDING ENTITY

Not documented

FIRST OBSERVED

Not documented

HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

A name day with no documented author.

No documented founder, proclamation, or formal establishment record has been identified for National Linda Day. It circulates on online holiday calendars with a fixed May 17 date, and no source explains why that date was chosen.

+ Know the story? Submit a founder Help us complete this holiday

INTRO

How a love song turned one name into a national craze

PHOTO

A pop song does not usually rewrite a birth-certificate trend. For Linda, one did. After a 1946 tune called "Linda" caught on, the name climbed to the very top of the list American parents chose from, and it stayed there year after year. National Linda Day, observed every May 17, is a nod to a name that briefly ran the country's nurseries.

The scale of that run is the surprising part. Linda was the most popular girls' name in the United States for six straight years, from 1947 through 1952, a streak recorded in the Social Security Administration's own dataset. No marketing campaign engineered it. A three-minute love song did.

The day itself keeps a low profile. There is no founder on record and no documented reason for the May 17 date, so the story worth telling is the name's, not the calendar's.

ORIGINS

Linda Day history

INTRODUCTION

The name on the cake is older than the song that made it famous. Linda traces back to a Germanic element, "lind," meaning soft, flexible, or tender, drawn from Proto-Germanic roots. The same element appears in the linden tree, and possibly in shields once carved from its wood.

In its short form, Linde stood in for longer old names such as Dietlinde and Sieglinde. As a standalone name, Linda got a literary push around 1800, when the German writer Jean Paul gave the name to a lead character in his four-volume novel Titan. Its American moment was still a century and a half away.

CHAPTER 01

A favor written in 1942

That moment began with a personal request. The songwriter Jack Lawrence was serving in the US Maritime Service during World War II when his friend and attorney, Lee Eastman, asked him for a favor. Eastman's wife already had a song in her name, and he wanted one for his young daughter too. Lawrence wrote "Linda" in 1942, though the world would not hear it for four more years.

CHAPTER 02

The girl the song was about

That little girl was Linda Louise Eastman. Decades later she became the photographer Linda McCartney, who married Paul McCartney in 1969. The love song that would help send the name across the country had been written, years earlier, about the future Mrs. McCartney.

CHAPTER 03

From a hit record to the top of the charts

The recording finally landed in 1947. Ray Noble's orchestra cut the song with a Buddy Clark vocal, and it reached number two on the Billboard Best Sellers chart, lasting 13 weeks. That same year, Linda became the most popular name given to American baby girls. It held the top spot through 1952, then stayed in the top five through 1963 before sliding down the rankings.

What the record cannot tell us is anything about National Linda Day itself. No founder, proclamation, or establishment record exists, and no source explains the May 17 date. The day points back to a name whose own history is unusually well documented, even if the observance's is not.

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why We Love National Linda Day

CULTURE

A three-minute song rewrote a decade of baby names.

Naming fashions usually drift slowly, but here a single hit song bent the trend almost overnight. National Linda Day marks one of the clearest documented cases of a tune reshaping what parents wrote on birth certificates.

RECORD

It honors the trendiest name in US history

By a statistician's combined measure of popularity plus rise and fall, Linda ranks as the trendiest name the country has ever seen. National Linda Day puts that singular distinction on the calendar.

PEOPLE

It connects generations of namesakes

The name spans eras and fields, from singer Linda Ronstadt to actress Linda Hamilton and photographer Linda McCartney. The day gives those shared namesakes a common moment to recognize.

BY THE NUMBERS

National Linda Day by the Numbers

1947-1952: Years Linda ranked No. 1 girls' name
5.48%: US baby girls named Linda, 1947
1963: Linda's last year in US top five
0.022%: US baby girls named Linda, 2015

TIMELINE

Timeline

A novelist popularizes the name

German writer Jean Paul used Linda for a lead character in his four-volume novel Titan, spreading the form across German-speaking Europe.

Linda Eastman is born

Linda Louise Eastman, the future Linda McCartney and the song's namesake, is born in New York.

Jack Lawrence writes the song

Serving in the US Maritime Service, Lawrence composes "Linda" as a favor to his attorney Lee Eastman, for Eastman's young daughter.

The recording is made

Ray Noble's orchestra records "Linda" with a Buddy Clark vocal on November 15, four years after it was written.

Linda reaches number one

The recording becomes a hit and Linda becomes the top US girls' name, given to 5.48 percent of all baby girls that year.

The six-year reign ends

Linda finishes its run as the number one US girls' name, and Mary returns to the top in 1953.

My wife has a great song in her name... my daughter Linda feels left out. How about writing a song especially for her?

Lee EastmanAttorney, as recalled by songwriter Jack Lawrence

GET INVOLVED

How to Celebrate National Linda Day

Play the 1946 song that started it all

Find the Buddy Clark recording of "Linda" and give it a listen. It is the three-minute tune that helped send the name to the top of the charts.

CELEBRATE

Celebrate a Linda in your life

Reach out to a friend, relative, or coworker named Linda. A quick message or a shared meal turns the day into something personal.

LOOK

Look up the name's meaning together

Share the Germanic root "lind," meaning soft or tender, with the Lindas you know. It is a small fact most people carrying the name have never heard.

TRACE

Trace your family's Lindas

Ask older relatives whether the name runs in your family tree. Given its mid-century boom, many American families have a Linda or two from those years.