Blanche
French, from the word blanche, white, originally a byname for someone fair-haired or pale. The adjective came into French from a Germanic word, blank.
Blanche in 2025
Blanche was given to 16 babies in the United States in 2025, making it the 11,916th most popular name of the year. That is roughly one in every 207,209 babies born.
The history of Blanche
Blanche reached its highest point in 1917, when 2,842 babies were given the name, ranking 153rd that year. Its best-ever ranking was 70th, in 1888.
Across the 146 years of records since 1880, 87,648 babies have been named Blanche. Half of them were born before 1917, which places the name's centre of gravity with the Greatest Generation.
Blanche by decade
| Decade | Babies named Blanche | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 6,936 | 70 |
| 1890s | 10,888 | 71 |
| 1900s | 11,759 | 77 |
| 1910s | 22,034 | 100 |
| 1920s | 19,669 | 175 |
| 1930s | 7,539 | 328 |
| 1940s | 4,022 | 555 |
| 1950s | 2,652 | 815 |
| 1960s | 1,187 | 1,351 |
| 1970s | 394 | 2,514 |
| 1980s | 226 | 4,707 |
| 1990s | 147 | 7,375 |
| 2000s | 76 | 13,842 |
| 2010s | 60 | 16,990 |
| 2020s | 59 | 11,916 |
Where Blanche is heading
Blanche was not in use ten years ago, so there is no decade-long trend to compare against yet.
That is less than 5% of its 1917 peak — Blanche is now a rare name in the United States.
Names like Blanche
Names that rose and fell at the same time as Blanche.