Blue
A color name indicating tranquility, stability, and peacefulness.
Name Census estimates that about 1,346 living Americans carry the first name Blue. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 65.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Blue today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Blue births was 2021 (89 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Blue. 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 Blue with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Blue is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 18 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 254,647 Americans
Peak year
2021
89 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,594
Tracked since 1968
Census
Blue in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,057 people with the first name Blue, which placed it at #7,430 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
#7,430
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,057 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Blue
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Blue is White at 49.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.4%) and Black (17.1%). 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 Blue 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 Blue at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.6% · 1,020
- Hispanic or Latino20.4% · 420
- Black or African American17.1% · 352
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.8% · 120
- Two or more races5.1% · 104
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 41
Gender
Gender distribution for Blue
Blue is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,372 total registrations, 899 (65.5%) were male and 473 (34.5%) were female.
Blue as a male name
- Ranked #2,594 in 2024
- 51 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (51 births)
Blue as a female name
- Ranked #4,476 in 2024
- 31 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (43 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Blue on both sides of the split. Of the 2,055 people counted with this name, 1,270 were male (61.8%) and 785 were female (38.2%).
Popularity
Blue: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Blue from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 404 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Blue 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 Blue during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Blues live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Blue, while New York, Georgia, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 45 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Blue
The name Blue has its origins in the English language, stemming from the color word "blue." The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the late 19th century, though it was initially more common as a nickname or middle name rather than a first name.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Blue was Blue Howell, an American baseball player born in 1888. He played in the major leagues for several teams, including the Boston Red Sox and the Washington Senators, between 1909 and 1920.
Another notable figure with the name Blue was Blue Mitchell, an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader born in 1930. He was known for his work with various jazz ensembles and his collaborations with artists like Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk.
In the world of literature, one of the most famous individuals with the name Blue was Blue Balliett, an American author born in 1955. She is best known for her children's mystery novels, including "Chasing Vermeer" and "The Wright 3."
The name Blue also has connections to the entertainment industry. Blue Deckert, born in 1962, is an American actress known for her roles in films such as "Cobra" and "The Night Stalker."
Historically, the name Blue has been associated with various cultures and belief systems. In some Native American traditions, the color blue is believed to represent the sky and is considered a sacred color. Additionally, in certain Buddhist teachings, the color blue is associated with the concept of the infinite and the boundless.
While the name Blue may have been initially used more as a descriptive nickname or middle name, it has gained popularity as a first name in recent decades. Its unique and unconventional nature has appealed to many parents seeking distinctive names for their children.
People
Blue + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Blue 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
Blue: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Blue?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,346 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Blue 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 254,647 US residents.
Is Blue a common name?
We classify Blue as "Rare". It ranks above 91.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,372 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Blue most popular?
The single biggest year for Blue was 2021, when 89 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Blue is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Blue in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,057 people with the name Blue, or 0.68 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,430 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 Blue 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 Blue?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Blue on both sides of the split. Of the 2,055 people counted with this name, 1,270 were male (61.8%) and 785 were female (38.2%). 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 Blue?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Blue is White at 49.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.4%) and Black (17.1%). 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 Blue most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Blue in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.6% (1,020 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 Blue in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Blue a male name?
Yes, 65.5% of people registered as Blue 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 Blue still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Blue 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 Blue 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 share the name Blue?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.