Bladen
Of uncertain origin, it's possibly a variant of the English surname Bladen, derived from a place name.
Name Census estimates that about 863 living Americans carry the first name Bladen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bladen today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bladen births was 2009 (69 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bladen. 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 Bladen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
863
~ 1 in 397,166 Americans
Peak year
2009
69 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,069
Tracked since 1993
Census
Bladen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 784 people with the first name Bladen, which placed it at #14,861 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
#14,861
National first-name rank
People counted
784
784 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bladen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bladen is White at 79.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.4%) and Two or More Races (6.6%). 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 Bladen 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 Bladen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.7% · 625
- Hispanic or Latino7.4% · 58
- Two or more races6.6% · 52
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.3% · 26
- Black or African American1.8% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 9
Popularity
Bladen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bladen from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 421 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
Bladen 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 Bladen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bladens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. North Carolina, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Bladen, while Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bladen
The name Bladen is of Old English origin, derived from the word "blæd," meaning "branch" or "leaf." It is believed to have originated as a surname, referring to someone who lived near a prominent tree or wooded area. The earliest recorded use of the name Bladen dates back to the 11th century.
In the Middle Ages, the name Bladen was associated with nature and fertility. It was often given to children born in the spring or during times of agricultural abundance. Some historians suggest that the name may have been used as a symbol of prosperity and growth.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Bladen was Bladen of Saxony (c. 1050-1120), a German nobleman and landowner. He is mentioned in several medieval chronicles for his role in the expansion of his family's estates.
In the 16th century, Bladen Smith (1520-1589) was a prominent English merchant and explorer. He is credited with establishing trade routes between England and the West Indies, contributing to the growth of British colonial interests in the Caribbean.
During the 17th century, Bladen Macintosh (1630-1701) was a Scottish soldier and diplomat. He served as an envoy to the court of King Louis XIV of France and played a role in negotiating the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697.
In the 18th century, Bladen Marsham (1712-1784) was an English politician and landowner. He served as a Member of Parliament for several decades and was known for his support of agricultural reforms and land management practices.
Another notable figure was Bladen Powell (1760-1835), an American soldier and explorer. He was a veteran of the Revolutionary War and later led expeditions into the western territories, contributing to the mapping and exploration of the American West.
Throughout history, the name Bladen has been associated with themes of nature, growth, and exploration. While its popularity has waxed and waned over the centuries, it remains a unique and meaningful name with deep roots in various cultures and traditions.
People
Bladen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bladen 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
Bladen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bladen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 863 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bladen 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 397,166 US residents.
Is Bladen a common name?
We classify Bladen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 872 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bladen most popular?
The single biggest year for Bladen was 2009, when 69 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bladen is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bladen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 784 people with the name Bladen, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,861 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 Bladen 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 Bladen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bladen leans strongly male. 766 people counted with this name were male (97.8%), compared with 17 female bearers (2.2%). 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 Bladen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bladen is White at 79.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.4%) and Two or More Races (6.6%). 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 Bladen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bladen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.7% (625 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 Bladen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bladen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bladen 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 Bladen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bladen 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 Bladen 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 called Bladen?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.