Mary Blige
There are approximately 1 people named Mary Blige living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 342,754,338 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Mary with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Blige. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
1
1 in 342,754,338
Named Mary
1.5M
Alive today
Named Blige
329
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 1.5M
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Female
Peak year: 1921
Average age: 65
Top Census group: White (81.1%)
Estimated bearers: 329
Rarity: Very Rare
Census rank: #72,902
Per 100K: 0.10
Top ancestry: Black (85.7%)
First name trend
Mary: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Mary. The peak year was 1921 with 74,171 births. The average person named Mary today is 65 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mary
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Mary, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 81.1%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Mary described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Mary at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White81.1% · 1,434,886
- Black or African American9.3% · 164,569
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 98,991
- Two or more races1.8% · 32,402
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 26,838
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 10,651
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Blige surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Blige, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is Black at 85.7%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Blige described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Blige at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- Black or African American85.7% · 246
- White7.3% · 21
- Two or more races3.5% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Mary has a living-bearer frequency of 0.4355% of the US population, based on 1,492,757 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Mary right now.
The surname Blige appears at a rate of 0.10 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0001%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 1 people with the full name Mary Blige. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Mary
FAQ
Mary Blige: questions and answers
How many people are named Mary Blige?
We estimate approximately 1 people in the United States share the full name Mary Blige. That works out to about 1 in 342,754,338 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.4355%) with the surname frequency (0.10 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Mary Blige?
We classify Mary Blige as "Very Rare". About 1 in 342,754,338 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Mary a male or female name?
Mary is predominantly female. Out of 4,154,332 total SSA registrations, 0.4% were male and 99.6% were female. See the full Mary profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many people are named Mary Blige?
Find out how common the name Mary Blige is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.