Inherited from Middle English Lincolne, from Old English Lincolle, Lindcolen, Lindcylene, from Latin Lindum Colōnia (“the Roman settlement Lindum Colonia”), from Proto-Brythonic *llɨnn (“pool”), from Proto-Celtic *lindos (“lake, liquid”), in reference to the Brayford. In the United States, many of the places established since 1865 are named after Abraham Lincoln.