Blanch
A feminine French name derived from "blanche", meaning "white" or "fair".
Name Census estimates that about 648 living Americans carry the first name Blanch. It is a predominantly female name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Blanch today is around 79 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Blanch births was 1924 (181 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Blanch. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Blanch is about 79 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Blanchs were born before 1957.
People living today
648
~ 1 in 528,942 Americans
Peak year
1924
181 babies that year
Average age
79
years old
1932 SSA rank
#3,118
Tracked since 1880
Census
Blanch in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 766 people with the first name Blanch, which placed it at #15,123 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#15,123
National first-name rank
People counted
766
766 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Blanch
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Blanch is White at 51.2%. The next largest groups are Black (30.0%) and Hispanic (12.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Blanch described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Blanch at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.2% · 392
- Black or African American30.0% · 230
- Hispanic or Latino12.3% · 94
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 20
- Two or more races2.3% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 12
Gender
Gender distribution for Blanch
Out of the 6,450 babies given the name Blanch since 1880, 99.5% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Blanch as a male name
- Ranked #3,118 in 1932
- 7 male births in 1932
- Peak: 1921 (8 births)
Blanch as a female name
- Ranked #10,439 in 1983
- 5 female births in 1983
- Peak: 1924 (181 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Blanch leans strongly female. 742 people counted with this name were female (96.7%), compared with 25 male bearers (3.3%).
Popularity
Blanch: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Blanch from the 1880s through to the 1980s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,476 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Blanch by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Blanch during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Blanchs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina recorded the most babies named Blanch, while Iowa, California, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 102 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Blanch
The name Blanch is derived from the Old French word "blanche," meaning white or fair. It likely originated as a nickname or descriptive name given to someone with pale or fair skin or hair. The name has its roots in the French language, which developed from the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in what is now northern France.
The earliest recorded use of the name Blanch dates back to the 12th century in England, where it was sometimes spelled as "Blaunche" or "Blanche." It was a relatively common name among the nobility and upper classes during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Blanch was Blanche of Castile, born in 1188, who was the Queen consort of France as the wife of King Louis VIII. She served as regent of France during the minority of her son, Louis IX, and played a significant role in the governance of the kingdom.
Another prominent historical figure with the name Blanch was Blanche of Navarre, born in 1330, who was the Queen of Navarre and Countess of Évreux. She was known for her political influence and her role in the Hundred Years' War between England and France.
In the 15th century, Blanche of Burgundy, born in 1388, was a Duchess of Bavaria and a key figure in the political and cultural life of the Duchy of Bavaria-Straubing.
During the reign of King Henry VIII of England, Blanche Parry, born around 1508, was a prominent figure at the Tudor court. She served as Chief Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber to Queen Elizabeth I and was a trusted confidante of the monarch.
In the 17th century, Blanche Bingley Garnett, born in 1629, was an English writer and translator who is best known for her translations of French works into English.
The name Blanch has been associated with historical figures from various time periods and regions, often reflecting its French origins and its association with nobility and cultural significance.
People
Blanch + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Blanch as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Blanch: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Blanch?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 648 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Blanch going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 528,942 US residents.
Is Blanch a common name?
We classify Blanch as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,450 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Blanch most popular?
The single biggest year for Blanch was 1924, when 181 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Blanch is about 79 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Blanch in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 766 people with the name Blanch, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,123 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Blanch in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Blanch?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Blanch leans strongly female. 742 people counted with this name were female (96.7%), compared with 25 male bearers (3.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Blanch?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Blanch is White at 51.2%. The next largest groups are Black (30.0%) and Hispanic (12.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Blanch most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Blanch in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.2% (392 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Blanch in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Blanch a female name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Blanch in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Blanch still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Blanch in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Blanch can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Blanch?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.