Balmore
A combination of Celtic elements meaning "battle wanderer" or "battle messenger".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Balmore. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Balmore today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Balmore births was 2004 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Balmore. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Balmore. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
2004
5 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2005 SSA rank
#11,655
Tracked since 2004
Census
Balmore in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 410 people with the first name Balmore, which placed it at #23,765 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
#23,765
National first-name rank
People counted
410
410 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
97.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Balmore
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Balmore is Hispanic at 97.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.2%) and Black (1.2%). 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 Balmore 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 Balmore at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino97.3% · 399
- White1.2% · 5
- Black or African American1.2% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Balmore: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Balmore 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 Balmore during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 10 | 0 | 10 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Balmore
The name Balmore has its origins in the Celtic languages of ancient Britain and Ireland. It is derived from the Proto-Celtic words "bal" meaning "powerful" and "mor" meaning "great" or "noble." The name would have been borne by warriors and chieftains in the Iron Age, around 800 BC to 100 AD.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Balmore mac Échen, a king of the Dál Riata in modern-day Scotland in the 6th century AD. He is mentioned in the Annals of Ulster, an ancient chronicle of medieval Irish history.
In the 9th century AD, a monk named Balmore of Iona is noted in the records of the monastery on the Scottish island of Iona. He was a scribe who helped preserve many ancient texts and manuscripts during the Viking Age.
During the High Middle Ages, a nobleman named Balmore de Montfort fought alongside William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. He was awarded lands in England for his service and founded a noble lineage that lasted for centuries.
In the 15th century, an Italian artist and architect named Balmore Codazzi was active in the city of Milan. He is credited with designing several churches and palaces that still stand today, showcasing the Renaissance style of architecture.
Moving to the 16th century, Balmore Ó Máille was an Irish chieftain and pirate who engaged in acts of piracy and rebellion against the English crown. He was eventually captured and executed in 1586 for his defiance against English rule in Ireland.
These are just a few examples of individuals who bore the name Balmore throughout history, showcasing its Celtic roots and its use across various cultures and time periods. While the name may be less common today, it remains a part of the rich tapestry of names that have endured for centuries.
People
Balmore + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Balmore 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
Balmore: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Balmore?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Balmore 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Balmore a common name?
We classify Balmore as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Balmore most popular?
The single biggest year for Balmore was 2004, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Balmore is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Balmore in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 410 people with the name Balmore, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,765 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 Balmore 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 Balmore?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Balmore appears almost entirely male. Of the 408 people counted with this name, 99.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Balmore?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Balmore is Hispanic at 97.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.2%) and Black (1.2%). 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 Balmore most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Balmore in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.3% (399 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 Balmore in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Balmore a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Balmore 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 Balmore still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Balmore 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 Balmore 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 Balmore?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.