Blaney
An English diminutive form of the name Blanche, meaning "white" or "fair".
Name Census estimates that about 7 living Americans carry the first name Blaney. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 58.3% of registrations being female. The average person named Blaney today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Blaney births was 2001 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Blaney. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Blaney. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
7
~ 1 in 48,964,905 Americans
Peak year
2001
7 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
1919 SSA rank
#4,220
Tracked since 1919
Gender
Gender distribution for Blaney
Blaney is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 12 total registrations, 5 (41.7%) were male and 7 (58.3%) were female.
Blaney as a male name
- Ranked #4,220 in 1919
- 5 male births in 1919
- Peak: 1919 (5 births)
Blaney as a female name
- Ranked #12,265 in 2001
- 7 female births in 2001
- Peak: 2001 (7 births)
Popularity
Blaney: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Blaney from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 7 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Blaney 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 Blaney 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 Blaney
The given name Blaney finds its origins in the Old Irish language and culture. It is derived from the Gaelic word "blan," which means "yellow" or "pale." The name likely emerged in Ireland during the medieval period, possibly as a descriptive nickname for someone with fair hair or a pale complexion.
In ancient Irish texts and manuscripts, variations of the name, such as "Blane" and "Blaan," are mentioned. One notable historical figure bearing this name was Saint Blane, a 6th-century Scottish missionary and founder of the church at Kingarth on the Isle of Bute. His feast day is celebrated on August 10th in the Catholic Church.
The earliest recorded use of the name Blaney can be traced back to the 12th century in Irish annals and genealogical records. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Blaney O'Gallagher, a prominent Irish chieftain who lived in the 14th century and played a role in the conflicts between the O'Gallagher and O'Donnell clans.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Blaney. One such person was Blaney Townsend Balfour (1825-1887), a British politician and Member of Parliament for Whitehaven. Another was Blaney Walker (1857-1938), an American politician who served as the 28th Governor of Georgia from 1923 to 1927.
In the realm of sports, Blaney Pridgen (1922-2009) was an American professional baseball player who played for the Philadelphia Athletics and the St. Louis Browns in the 1940s. Blaney Carpenter (1863-1931) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Sussex County Cricket Club in the late 19th century.
Another historical figure worth mentioning is Blaney Percival (1795-1859), an Irish-born British Army officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars and later became a Member of Parliament for Bassetlaw.
People
Blaney + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Blaney 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
Blaney: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Blaney?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Blaney 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 48,964,905 US residents.
Is Blaney a common name?
We classify Blaney as "Very Rare". It ranks above 23.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Blaney most popular?
The single biggest year for Blaney was 2001, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Blaney is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Blaney in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Blaney a female name?
Yes, 58.3% of people registered as Blaney 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 Blaney still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Blaney 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 Blaney 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Blaney?
Find out how many people have the name Blaney on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.