Bliss
A state of supreme happiness or spiritual joy.
Name Census estimates that about 1,709 living Americans carry the first name Bliss. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 88.3% of registrations being female. The average person named Bliss today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bliss births was 2023 (106 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bliss. 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.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 200,558 Americans
Peak year
2023
106 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,192
Tracked since 1887
Gender
Gender distribution for Bliss
Bliss leans heavily female at 88.3% of total registrations, but 225 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Bliss as a male name
- Ranked #8,372 in 2024
- 9 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1914 (13 births)
Bliss as a female name
- Ranked #2,192 in 2024
- 86 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (94 births)
Popularity
Bliss: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bliss from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 503 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Bliss remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bliss 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 Bliss during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bliss' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Bliss, while Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 37 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bliss
The name Bliss is an English name derived from the Old French word "blis", which in turn comes from the Old English word "blisse", meaning joy or gladness. This name gained popularity during the Middle Ages, when it was often used as a descriptive name or nickname for someone who was happy or joyful.
Bliss has its roots in the ancient Indo-European root "gal", which means to be glad or to rejoice. This root can be found in various other languages, such as the German word "Glück" (meaning luck or happiness) and the Greek word "gelos" (meaning laughter).
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Bliss can be found in the works of the 14th-century English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. In his famous work, "The Canterbury Tales", he mentions a character named "Blysse" who represents the personification of joy and happiness.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Bliss. One of the earliest was Bliss Carman (1861-1929), a Canadian poet and essayist who was known for his nature poetry and his contributions to the Confederation Poets literary movement.
Another notable figure was Bliss Perry (1860-1954), an American scholar and literary critic who served as the editor of the Atlantic Monthly magazine from 1899 to 1909. He also taught English literature at Harvard University and wrote several books on literary criticism.
In the field of architecture, Bliss Edward Carman (1868-1943) was a renowned American architect who designed several notable buildings in New York City, including the Central Synagogue and the National Park Seminary.
Bliss Sands (1863-1949) was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York from 1915 to 1919.
Lastly, Bliss Llewellyn (1916-1986) was a Welsh writer and artist who published several novels and collections of short stories, as well as being a respected painter and printmaker.
While the name Bliss may not be as common today as it once was, its origins and historical significance make it a unique and meaningful name that carries connotations of joy, happiness, and contentment.
People
Bliss + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bliss 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
Bliss: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bliss?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,709 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bliss 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 200,558 US residents.
Is Bliss a common name?
We classify Bliss as "Rare". It ranks above 93% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,930 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bliss most popular?
The single biggest year for Bliss was 2023, when 106 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bliss is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Bliss a female name?
Yes, 88.3% of people registered as Bliss 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.
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.