Bianca
A feminine name of Italian origin meaning "white" or "fair".
Name Census estimates that about 74,410 living Americans carry the first name Bianca. It sits at #460 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bianca today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bianca births was 1991 (3,857 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bianca. 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 Bianca with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Bianca is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 195 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
74K
~ 1 in 4,606 Americans
Peak year
1991
3,857 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2004 SSA rank
#460
Tracked since 1905
Census
Bianca in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 72,258 people with the first name Bianca, which placed it at #710 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
#710
National first-name rank
People counted
72K
72,258 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
23.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
54.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bianca
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bianca is Hispanic at 54.7%. The next largest groups are White (22.2%) and Black (16.3%). 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 Bianca 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 Bianca at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino54.7% · 39,492
- White22.2% · 16,058
- Black or African American16.3% · 11,814
- Two or more races3.5% · 2,511
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 2,074
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 309
Gender
Gender distribution for Bianca
Out of the 77,157 babies given the name Bianca since 1880, 99.7% 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.
Bianca as a male name
- Ranked #10,106 in 2004
- 6 male births in 2004
- Peak: 1989 (34 births)
Bianca as a female name
- Ranked #460 in 2024
- 678 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1991 (3,844 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bianca appears almost entirely female. Of the 72,256 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Bianca: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bianca from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 28,634 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bianca 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 Bianca during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Biancas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 50 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Bianca, while North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,488 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bianca
The name Bianca is an Italian name derived from the Italian word "bianco" meaning "white." It has its origins in the Latin word "blancus," which also means "white" or "fair." The name was particularly popular during the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods in Italy.
Bianca was a common name among the Italian nobility and aristocracy. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy," written in the early 14th century. Dante mentions a character named Bianca in the "Purgatorio" section of his epic poem.
In the 14th century, Bianca di Savoia, also known as Bianca of Savoy, was the wife of Galeazzo II Visconti, the Lord of Milan. She was born in 1336 and played a significant role in the politics of the Visconti dynasty.
During the Renaissance period, Bianca Maria Sforza (1472-1510) was an influential figure. She was the daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the Duke of Milan, and was known for her patronage of the arts and her political influence.
In the 16th century, Bianca Cappello (1548-1587) was the Grand Duchess of Tuscany. She was born in Venice and became the second wife of Francesco I de' Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 1579.
Another notable figure with the name Bianca was Bianca Milesi (1790-1849), an Italian painter and engraver who was active during the Neoclassical and Romantic periods. She was known for her portraits and historical paintings.
While the name Bianca has its roots in Italian culture, it has gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries. However, the name's Italian heritage and the meaning of "white" or "fair" remain an integral part of its history and significance.
People
Bianca + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bianca 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
Bianca: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bianca?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 74,410 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bianca 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 4,606 US residents.
Is Bianca a common name?
We classify Bianca as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 77,157 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bianca most popular?
The single biggest year for Bianca was 1991, when 3,857 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bianca is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bianca in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 72,258 people with the name Bianca, or 23.92 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #710 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 Bianca 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 Bianca?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bianca appears almost entirely female. Of the 72,256 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Bianca?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bianca is Hispanic at 54.7%. The next largest groups are White (22.2%) and Black (16.3%). 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 Bianca most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Bianca in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.7% (39,492 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 Bianca in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bianca a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Bianca 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 Bianca still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bianca 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 Bianca 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 Bianca?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.