Given name & surname
Lim
“resembling jade; from the woodland”
In English use, Lim is a variant of Lin. One Chinese interpretation is “resembling jade; from the woodland.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
In English use, Lim is a variant of Lin. One Chinese interpretation is “resembling jade; from the woodland.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
In English use, Lim is a variant of Lin. An origin associated with Lin is Chinese.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
From Hokkien 林 (Lîm), from Teochew 林 (lim⁵), from Hakka 林 (lim²).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1885. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Lim through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 30
- 30 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1900
- 7 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 6 in 1934. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 7 in 1900. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 678 as a first name in 2020; 40,278 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Lim’s family of names
In English usage, Lim as a surname shares an earlier linguistic root with Lin. In English usage, Lim as a surname has a related form in Lam. In English usage, Lim has a related form in Lin.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Around the world
Lim has relatives in 4 languages.
7 related names in 4 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 6
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Similar names
If you love Lim, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.