Find out how popular the last name Bliven is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Bliven.

Bliven, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Bliven surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bliven in America

Bliven is the 19372nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bliven surname appeared 1,396 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Bliven.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bliven to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Bliven

The surname Bliven is of English origin and can be traced back to the 13th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old English word "blyth", meaning "cheerful" or "joyful". The name was initially spelled as "Blythen" or "Blythin".

The earliest recorded instance of the name Bliven can be found in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire, a census-like record from 1273, where the name appears as "William Blythen". This suggests that the name was prevalent in the county of Oxfordshire during that time period.

In the 14th century, the surname Bliven began to appear in various spellings, such as "Blyven" and "Blyvyn", reflecting the regional variations in pronunciation and spelling. The name was also found in other parts of England, including Suffolk and Norfolk.

One notable early bearer of the name was John Bliven, a landowner and merchant from Suffolk, who lived in the late 15th century. His name is recorded in the Court Rolls of Ipswich, a historical document from 1492.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Bliven gained prominence in the county of Essex, where it was often associated with the village of Blyth, which may have contributed to the evolution of the spelling.

In the late 17th century, a branch of the Bliven family migrated to the American colonies, with one of the earliest recorded instances being that of Samuel Bliven, who was born in Essex, England, in 1658, and later settled in Long Island, New York.

Another prominent figure in the history of the Bliven surname was Sir Richard Bliven, a member of the British Parliament who lived in the late 18th century. He was born in Norfolk in 1732 and served as a Member of Parliament for the borough of Great Yarmouth from 1784 until his death in 1803.

The 19th century saw the name Bliven spread across various parts of the United States, with notable individuals such as Abram Bliven, a successful businessman and landowner in Ohio, who was born in 1812, and Reverend John Bliven, a prominent Baptist minister from New York, who lived from 1827 to 1906.

One of the most renowned bearers of the surname Bliven was Arthur Bliven, an American writer and journalist who was born in Michigan in 1869 and gained recognition for his work as a foreign correspondent during World War I.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bliven

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Bliven.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Bliven was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Bliven has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Bliven was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Bliven, please contact us.

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