Blanca
A feminine Spanish name derived from "blanco," meaning white or pure.
Name Census estimates that about 22,629 living Americans carry the first name Blanca. It is a predominantly female name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Blanca today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Blanca births was 1990 (673 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Blanca. 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 Blanca with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Blanca is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 126 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
23K
~ 1 in 15,147 Americans
Peak year
1990
673 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
1996 SSA rank
#1,878
Tracked since 1910
Census
Blanca in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 91,172 people with the first name Blanca, which placed it at #584 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
#584
National first-name rank
People counted
91K
91,172 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
30.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
98.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Blanca
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Blanca is Hispanic at 98.4%. The next largest groups are White (1.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). 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 Blanca 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 Blanca at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.4% · 89,735
- White1.1% · 964
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 218
- Black or African American0.2% · 153
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 57
- Two or more races0.0% · 45
Gender
Gender distribution for Blanca
Out of the 25,541 babies given the name Blanca since 1880, 99.5% 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.
Blanca as a male name
- Ranked #9,154 in 1996
- 5 male births in 1996
- Peak: 1990 (11 births)
Blanca as a female name
- Ranked #1,878 in 2024
- 106 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1990 (662 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Blanca appears almost entirely female. Of the 91,179 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Blanca: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Blanca from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 5,218 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
Blanca 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 Blanca during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Blancas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 29 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Blanca, while Idaho, Utah, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 779 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Blanca
The name Blanca originated from the Spanish language, derived from the word "blanco" meaning "white" or "fair". This name has been in use since the Middle Ages in Spain and other Spanish-speaking regions.
The name Blanca was popular among the Spanish nobility and upper classes during the medieval period. It was often given to children with fair complexions or blonde hair, reflecting the name's meaning.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Blanca can be found in the 13th-century literary work "El Libro de Buen Amor" by Juan Ruiz, Arcipreste de Hita. In this work, Blanca is mentioned as the name of a character.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have been named Blanca. One of the most famous was Blanca of Navarre (1387-1441), who was the Queen of Navarre from 1425 until her death. She played a significant role in the political affairs of the Kingdom of Navarre during her reign.
Another prominent figure with the name Blanca was Blanca de Castilla (1188-1252), who was the Queen consort of France from 1223 to 1226. She was the daughter of King Alfonso VIII of Castile and acted as regent for her son, Louis IX, during his minority.
In the realm of literature, Blanca de los Ríos (1859-1956) was a Spanish writer, critic, and educator. She was a prominent figure in the Spanish literary circles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The name Blanca also appears in religious contexts. Blessed Blanca of Palencia (1252-1321) was a Spanish nun and mystic who lived in the 13th and 14th centuries. She is recognized as a Blessed by the Catholic Church.
In the world of art, Blanca Luz Brum (1905-1995) was a renowned Uruguayan painter and sculptor. Her works are celebrated for their exploration of abstract forms and geometric shapes.
While the name Blanca has its roots in Spanish-speaking regions, it has gained popularity in other cultures and languages over time. The name's association with purity, fairness, and elegance has contributed to its enduring appeal across various cultures and eras.
People
Blanca + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Blanca 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
Blanca: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Blanca?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 22,629 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Blanca 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 15,147 US residents.
Is Blanca a common name?
We classify Blanca as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 25,541 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Blanca most popular?
The single biggest year for Blanca was 1990, when 673 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Blanca is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Blanca in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 91,172 people with the name Blanca, or 30.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #584 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 Blanca 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 Blanca?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Blanca appears almost entirely female. Of the 91,179 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 Blanca?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Blanca is Hispanic at 98.4%. The next largest groups are White (1.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). 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 Blanca most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Blanca in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.4% (89,735 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 Blanca in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Blanca a female name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Blanca 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 Blanca still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Blanca 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 Blanca 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 Blanca?
See how many people have the name Blanca on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.