Blaine
A masculine name of French origin, meaning "light-colored" or "yellow".
Name Census estimates that about 27,680 living Americans carry the first name Blaine. It is a predominantly male name (96.4% of registrations). The average person named Blaine today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Blaine births was 2001 (644 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Blaine. 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 Blaine with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Blaine is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 1,216 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
28K
~ 1 in 12,383 Americans
Peak year
2001
644 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,115
Tracked since 1880
Census
Blaine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 25,084 people with the first name Blaine, which placed it at #1,391 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
#1,391
National first-name rank
People counted
25K
25,084 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
8.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Blaine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Blaine is White at 86.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Black (3.5%). 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 Blaine 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 Blaine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.6% · 21,719
- Two or more races3.8% · 947
- Black or African American3.5% · 880
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 799
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 392
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 347
Gender
Gender distribution for Blaine
Blaine leans heavily male at 96.4% of total registrations, but 1,216 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Blaine as a male name
- Ranked #1,115 in 2024
- 191 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2001 (617 births)
Blaine as a female name
- Ranked #4,195 in 2024
- 34 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1988 (38 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Blaine leans strongly male. 24,030 people counted with this name were male (95.8%), compared with 1,052 female bearers (4.2%).
Popularity
Blaine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Blaine from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 4,990 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
Blaine 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 Blaine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Blaines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Blaine, while District of Columbia, Alaska, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 591 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Blaine
The name Blaine has its origins in the French language, derived from the Old French word "blain," which means "light-colored" or "yellowish." This name likely emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 11th or 12th century.
Blaine was initially a surname in France, often associated with people who had fair or light-colored hair or complexions. Over time, it transitioned into being used as a given name, particularly in English-speaking countries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Blaine can be found in the 13th-century poem "Le Roman de la Rose," written by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun. In this work, there is a character named "Blaine," which suggests the name's usage during that period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Blaine. One of the most prominent was James Gillespie Blaine (1830-1893), an American statesman who served as Secretary of State under President Benjamin Harrison and was a long-time Republican leader in the late 19th century.
Another famous bearer of the name was Blaine Wetzel (1926-2015), an American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded the successful restaurant chain Wendy's.
In the world of literature, Blaine L. Reininger (1924-1998) was an American poet and editor who co-founded the influential literary magazine "Toupee."
The name Blaine also has connections to the entertainment industry. Blaine Kern (1927-2015) was a renowned American artist and sculptor, best known for his work on Mardi Gras floats and sculptures.
Lastly, Blaine Boyer (born 1981) is a professional baseball player who has played for several Major League Baseball teams, including the Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals who have carried the name Blaine throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence across various fields and cultures.
People
Blaine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Blaine 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
Blaine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Blaine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 27,680 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Blaine 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 12,383 US residents.
Is Blaine a common name?
We classify Blaine as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 34,059 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Blaine most popular?
The single biggest year for Blaine was 2001, when 644 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Blaine is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Blaine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 25,084 people with the name Blaine, or 8.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,391 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 Blaine 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 Blaine?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Blaine leans strongly male. 24,030 people counted with this name were male (95.8%), compared with 1,052 female bearers (4.2%). 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 Blaine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Blaine is White at 86.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Black (3.5%). 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 Blaine most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Blaine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.6% (21,719 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 Blaine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Blaine a male name?
Yes, 96.4% of people registered as Blaine 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 Blaine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Blaine 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 Blaine 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 Blaine?
You can see how many Americans are named Blaine on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.