Blandina
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "delicate" or "gentle".
Name Census estimates that about 14 living Americans carry the first name Blandina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Blandina today is around 75 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Blandina births was 1916 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Blandina. 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 Blandina is about 75 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Blandinas were born before 1961.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Blandina. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
14
~ 1 in 24,482,453 Americans
Peak year
1916
8 babies that year
Average age
75
years old
1958 SSA rank
#6,180
Tracked since 1889
Census
Blandina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 529 people with the first name Blandina, which placed it at #19,808 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
#19,808
National first-name rank
People counted
529
529 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
64.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Blandina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Blandina is Hispanic at 64.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.3%) and White (12.1%). 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 Blandina 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 Blandina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino64.8% · 343
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.3% · 81
- White12.1% · 64
- Black or African American7.2% · 38
- Two or more races0.6% · 3
Popularity
Blandina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Blandina from the 1880s through to the 1950s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 24 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Blandina remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Blandina 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 Blandina 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 Blandina
The name Blandina has its origins in Latin. It is derived from the word "blandus," which means "gentle," "kind," or "flattering." The name gained prominence during the early days of Christianity in ancient Rome.
Blandina was a Christian martyr who lived in the 2nd century AD. She was one of the victims of the persecution of Christians in Lugdunum (modern-day Lyon, France) during the reign of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. Blandina endured horrific tortures for her faith but remained steadfast until her death. Her martyrdom was recorded in a letter from the churches of Lyon and Vienne, which described her as a "noble athlete."
The earliest recorded use of the name Blandina dates back to the 3rd century AD, when it appeared in Roman inscriptions and manuscripts. In the Middle Ages, the name was popular among Christians, particularly in Italy and France, due to the veneration of St. Blandina.
One of the most notable figures named Blandina was Blandina di Ranieri (1500-1545), an Italian Catholic nun and mystic. She was known for her spiritual visions and her devotion to the Virgin Mary. Another important figure was Blandina Segale (1850-1942), an Italian Catholic nun who founded the Congregation of the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate.
In literature, Blandina is a character in the novel "The Last Days of Pompeii" by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873). She is portrayed as a Christian girl who faces persecution during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Other notable individuals named Blandina include:
1. Blandina Milburn Hubbard (1839-1905), an American writer and educator.
2. Blandina Jardim (1918-2001), a Portuguese actress and singer.
3. Blandina Raitzin (1871-1962), a Russian-born American actress.
4. Blandina Offhuys (1914-2004), a Dutch actress and comedian.
5. Blandina Rijkens (1846-1919), a Dutch writer and feminist.
The name Blandina, with its Latin roots and Christian associations, has a rich history spanning centuries. It has been borne by saints, nuns, writers, and actresses, carrying the connotation of gentleness and kindness.
People
Blandina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Blandina 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
Blandina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Blandina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Blandina 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 24,482,453 US residents.
Is Blandina a common name?
We classify Blandina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 34% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 72 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Blandina most popular?
The single biggest year for Blandina was 1916, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Blandina is about 75 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Blandina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 529 people with the name Blandina, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,808 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 Blandina 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 Blandina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Blandina appears almost entirely female. Of the 531 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Blandina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Blandina is Hispanic at 64.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.3%) and White (12.1%). 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 Blandina most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Blandina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.8% (343 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 Blandina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Blandina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Blandina 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 Blandina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Blandina 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 Blandina 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 Blandina as a first name?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Blandina at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.