Humanverse

Blenda vs Blessin

American parents have registered 1,022 Blendas since 1880, against 565 Blessins. But in 2025 it was Blessin that was commoner, 28 babies to fewer than five.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Blenda against Blessin, 1880 to 2025 0 15 30 45 60 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Blenda Blessin

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 88 years in which either name was published, Blenda for 61 years and Blessin for 27 years. The lead changed hands once.

Side by side

  Blenda Blessin
Total US births 1,022565
Most in one year 5741
Babies in 2025 under 528
Estimated living today 710560
Median age today 7010
Peak year 19512019
Best rank 1,224th girls4,006th girls
Rank in 2025 unranked5,917th
First recorded 18981997
Girls / boys 1,022 / 0532 / 33

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Blendas alive today are over 70; half the Blessins are over 10. That is 60 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Blenda and Blessin.