Blane
Possibly derived from an English surname meaning "bare, bleak hill".
Name Census estimates that about 3,935 living Americans carry the first name Blane. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Blane today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Blane births was 1957 (114 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Blane. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Blane with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.9K
~ 1 in 87,104 Americans
Peak year
1957
114 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,521
Tracked since 1914
Census
Blane in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,762 people with the first name Blane, which placed it at #4,802 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
#4,802
National first-name rank
People counted
3.8K
3,762 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Blane
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Blane is White at 84.0%. The next largest groups are Black (5.5%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Blane 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 Blane at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.0% · 3,161
- Black or African American5.5% · 206
- Two or more races3.8% · 142
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 117
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 79
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 57
Gender
Gender distribution for Blane
Out of the 4,431 babies given the name Blane since 1880, 99.8% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Blane as a male name
- Ranked #3,521 in 2024
- 32 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1957 (114 births)
Blane as a female name
- Ranked #15,799 in 2007
- 6 female births in 2007
- Peak: 2007 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Blane leans strongly male. 3,654 people counted with this name were male (97.3%), compared with 100 female bearers (2.7%).
Popularity
Blane: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Blane from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 854 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Blane 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 Blane during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Blanes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 27 states and territories. Texas, California, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Blane, while Utah, Maryland, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 48 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Blane
The name Blane is of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the word "bàn" meaning "white" or "fair." It has its roots in the ancient Celtic cultures of Scotland and Ireland, where it was likely used as a descriptive name for a person with fair hair or a pale complexion.
In ancient Scottish and Irish texts, the name Blane is often associated with notable historical figures and saints. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is Saint Blane, a 6th-century Scottish missionary and bishop who established several churches and monasteries in the region. His feast day is celebrated on August 10th in the Catholic Church.
During the Middle Ages, the name Blane gained popularity among Scottish and Irish nobility. One notable bearer was Blane McDougall, a 13th-century Scottish nobleman and chief of the Clan MacDougall. He played a significant role in the Scottish Wars of Independence against England.
In the 16th century, a Scottish poet and satirist named Blane Willox gained recognition for his biting critiques of the Scottish nobility and clergy. His works were widely circulated and helped shape the literary culture of the time.
In more recent history, Blane Mukherjee was an influential Indian businessman and philanthropist who lived from 1917 to 2003. He founded several successful companies and was known for his charitable contributions to education and healthcare initiatives.
Another notable figure with the name Blane is Blane Muise, a Canadian ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) during the 1980s and 1990s. He was born in 1964 and played for several teams, including the Montreal Canadiens and the Edmonton Oilers.
While the name Blane is not as common today as it once was, it remains a part of the cultural heritage of Scotland and Ireland, reflecting the rich history and traditions of these regions.
People
Blane + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Blane 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
Blane: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Blane?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,935 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Blane 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 87,104 US residents.
Is Blane a common name?
We classify Blane as "Rare". It ranks above 96% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,431 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Blane most popular?
The single biggest year for Blane was 1957, when 114 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Blane is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Blane in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,762 people with the name Blane, or 1.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,802 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 Blane 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 Blane?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Blane leans strongly male. 3,654 people counted with this name were male (97.3%), compared with 100 female bearers (2.7%). 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 Blane?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Blane is White at 84.0%. The next largest groups are Black (5.5%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Blane most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Blane in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.0% (3,161 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 Blane in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Blane a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Blane in the SSA data are male. 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 Blane still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Blane 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 Blane 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 many people are named Blane?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.