Blessen
A masculine name of German origin, a variant of Blaize meaning "to bear offspring".
Name Census estimates that about 188 living Americans carry the first name Blessen. It is a predominantly female name (97.4% of registrations). The average person named Blessen today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Blessen births was 2019 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Blessen. 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.
People living today
188
~ 1 in 1,823,161 Americans
Peak year
2019
17 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,488
Tracked since 2000
Census
Blessen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 166 people with the first name Blessen, which placed it at #42,903 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
#42,903
National first-name rank
People counted
166
166 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
65.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Blessen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Blessen is Black at 65.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (27.1%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Blessen 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 Blessen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American65.1% · 108
- Asian and Pacific Islander27.1% · 45
- Two or more races4.2% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Blessen
Blessen leans heavily female at 97.4% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Blessen as a male name
- Ranked #12,488 in 2023
- 5 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2023 (5 births)
Blessen as a female name
- Ranked #15,631 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (17 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Blessen on both sides of the split. Of the 163 people counted with this name, 53 were male (32.5%) and 110 were female (67.5%).
Popularity
Blessen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Blessen from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 99 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Blessen remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Blessen 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 Blessen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Blessen
The name Blessen is a unique and relatively uncommon given name with its origins rooted in the ancient Germanic languages. It is believed to have derived from the Old High German word "blidsian," which means "to bless" or "to consecrate." This linguistic root can be traced back to the 8th century CE.
One of the earliest known references to the name Blessen can be found in the Frankish historical chronicles of the 9th century. A nobleman named Blessen von Aachen was mentioned as a prominent figure in the court of Charlemagne, the legendary ruler of the Carolingian Empire. His influence and contributions to the realm were well-documented in these annals.
During the Middle Ages, the name Blessen gained some traction among certain religious orders and monastic communities. It was particularly favored by the Benedictine monks, who saw the name as a symbolic representation of divine blessings and spiritual enlightenment. Brother Blessen of Canterbury, a renowned scholar and theologian of the 12th century, was one of the most notable bearers of this name during that era.
As the centuries passed, the name Blessen remained relatively obscure, predominantly confined to certain regions of central Europe. However, a few notable individuals emerged who carried this unique moniker. Blessen Edelmann, a German painter and engraver from the 16th century, achieved recognition for his intricate religious artworks and biblical illustrations.
In the 18th century, Blessen Schönberg, a Prussian military officer and tactician, gained fame for his strategic prowess during the Seven Years' War. His leadership and innovative battle tactics were widely praised by his contemporaries.
Moving into the modern era, the name Blessen experienced a slight resurgence in popularity, albeit still relatively rare. One notable figure was Blessen Müller, a German-American botanist and naturalist born in 1872. His extensive research and contributions to the field of plant taxonomy earned him widespread acclaim among the scientific community of his time.
While the name Blessen has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it carries a rich linguistic heritage and has been borne by a diverse array of individuals across various fields and disciplines. Its unique sound and spiritual connotations have likely contributed to its enduring, albeit niche, presence in the annals of given names.
People
Blessen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Blessen 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
Blessen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Blessen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 188 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Blessen 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 1,823,161 US residents.
Is Blessen a common name?
We classify Blessen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 190 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Blessen most popular?
The single biggest year for Blessen was 2019, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Blessen is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Blessen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 166 people with the name Blessen, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,903 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 Blessen 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 Blessen?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Blessen on both sides of the split. Of the 163 people counted with this name, 53 were male (32.5%) and 110 were female (67.5%). 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 Blessen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Blessen is Black at 65.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (27.1%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Blessen most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Blessen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.1% (108 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 Blessen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Blessen a female name?
Yes, 97.4% of people registered as Blessen 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 Blessen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Blessen 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 Blessen 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 Americans are named Blessen?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.