Bland
A name of English origin referring to something mild or insipid.
Name Census estimates that about 129 living Americans carry the first name Bland. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bland today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bland births was 1920 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bland. 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
- • The typical person named Bland is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Blands were born before 1962.
People living today
129
~ 1 in 2,657,010 Americans
Peak year
1920
16 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1980 SSA rank
#5,590
Tracked since 1907
Census
Bland in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 229 people with the first name Bland, which placed it at #35,223 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
#35,223
National first-name rank
People counted
229
229 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bland
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bland is White at 55.0%. The next largest groups are Black (34.5%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). 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 Bland 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 Bland at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.0% · 126
- Black or African American34.5% · 79
- Two or more races4.8% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 4
Popularity
Bland: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bland from the 1900s through to the 1980s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 123 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bland 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 Bland during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bland
The name Bland has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the word "blanden," which means "to mix" or "to blend." It was initially used as a descriptive term for someone who had a mixed or blended appearance, potentially referring to their hair or complexion.
During the Anglo-Saxon period in England, which lasted from the 5th to the 11th centuries, the name Bland was used as a personal name. It was particularly prevalent in the eastern regions of the country, such as East Anglia and Mercia.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Bland can be found in the Domesday Book, a great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The book mentions several individuals with the name, including Bland de Wideforde and Bland de Lincolneshire.
Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period, the name Bland continued to be used, although it was not as common as some other English names. However, there were notable individuals who bore the name, such as Bland Sutton (1855-1935), a renowned British surgeon and pioneer in the field of abdominal surgery.
Another famous Bland was Sir Richard Bland (1710-1776), a prominent American planter, politician, and scholar from Virginia. He played a significant role in the American Revolution and served as a member of the Continental Congress.
In the 19th century, the name Bland gained some popularity, with individuals like Bland Ballard (1761-1853), a Kentucky lawyer and politician who served as a judge and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
One of the most prominent figures with the name Bland was Hubert Bland (1856-1914), a British journalist, author, and socialist activist. He co-founded the Fabian Society, a influential socialist organization, and played a crucial role in promoting socialist ideals in Britain during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
While not as common as some other names, the name Bland has persisted throughout history, with various individuals bearing it and leaving their mark in different fields, including medicine, politics, and literature.
People
Bland + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bland 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
Bland: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bland?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 129 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bland 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 2,657,010 US residents.
Is Bland a common name?
We classify Bland as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 408 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bland most popular?
The single biggest year for Bland was 1920, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bland is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bland in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 229 people with the name Bland, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,223 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 Bland 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 Bland?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bland leans strongly male. 203 people counted with this name were male (88.3%), compared with 27 female bearers (11.7%). 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 Bland?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bland is White at 55.0%. The next largest groups are Black (34.5%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). 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 Bland most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bland in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.0% (126 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 Bland in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bland a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bland 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 Bland still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bland 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 Bland 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 have the name Bland?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Bland, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.