Blythe
Blythe was given to 92 girls in 2025, #2,052 among girls’ names; 5,441 Americans have been recorded with it since 1897 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 5,050 Americans named Blythe and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (93% of everyone recorded); the median is 22 years old and half are between 11 and 42.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Blythe by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Blythe mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Blythe is “a female given name transferred from the surname, reinforced by the word blithe.” Its etymology gives the sense “merry” (blīþe).
English surname, from Old English blīþe (“merry”). Many senses are derived from placenames, such as the River Blythe, all from the Old English adjective.
/blaɪð/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Blythe?
#2,052 among girls’ names, 2025
Blythe fell from #1,495 in 2015 to #2,052 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 85.7 to 57.2 per million.
181 babies in 2013, the peak
Blythe peaked in 2013, when 181 babies were given it (174 girls, #1,338 among girls’ names). The 102 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 56% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 92 | #2,052 | 57.2 |
| 2024 | 107 | #1,873 | 66.0 |
| 2023 | 108 | #1,855 | 67.3 |
| 2022 | 95 | #2,038 | 57.9 |
| 2021 | 97 | #1,994 | 59.1 |
| 2020 | 87 | #2,103 | 53.8 |
| 2019 | 141 | #1,531 | 84.0 |
| 2018 | 99 | #1,980 | 58.2 |
| 2017 | 117 | #1,781 | 67.8 |
| 2016 | 168 | #1,387 | 94.8 |
Every recorded year (105)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 153 | #1,495 | 85.7 |
| 2014 | 169 | #1,371 | 94.6 |
| 2013 | 174 | #1,338 | 99.2 |
| 2012 | 165 | #1,397 | 93.7 |
| 2011 | 106 | #1,888 | 60.3 |
| 2010 | 86 | #2,239 | 48.4 |
| 2009 | 87 | #2,245 | 47.4 |
| 2008 | 78 | #2,445 | 41.2 |
| 2007 | 64 | #2,827 | 33.3 |
| 2006 | 65 | #2,730 | 34.2 |
| 2005 | 79 | #2,280 | 42.8 |
| 2004 | 75 | #2,309 | 40.8 |
| 2003 | 72 | #2,322 | 39.4 |
| 2002 | 74 | #2,229 | 41.2 |
| 2001 | 66 | #2,380 | 36.7 |
| 2000 | 60 | #2,511 | 33.0 |
| 1999 | 56 | #2,530 | 31.6 |
| 1998 | 40 | #3,120 | 22.6 |
| 1997 | 57 | #2,326 | 32.7 |
| 1996 | 43 | #2,800 | 24.5 |
| 1995 | 46 | #2,649 | 26.2 |
| 1994 | 48 | #2,589 | 26.9 |
| 1993 | 41 | #2,879 | 22.7 |
| 1992 | 50 | #2,514 | 27.1 |
| 1991 | 58 | #2,241 | 30.9 |
| 1990 | 73 | #1,904 | 38.5 |
| 1989 | 51 | #2,299 | 27.7 |
| 1988 | 61 | #1,966 | 34.3 |
| 1987 | 72 | #1,680 | 41.4 |
| 1986 | 68 | #1,717 | 39.6 |
| 1985 | 84 | #1,473 | 48.8 |
| 1984 | 91 | #1,333 | 54.0 |
| 1983 | 66 | #1,666 | 39.5 |
| 1982 | 76 | #1,553 | 44.9 |
| 1981 | 70 | #1,643 | 42.0 |
| 1980 | 48 | #2,131 | 28.9 |
| 1979 | 58 | #1,833 | 36.1 |
| 1978 | 66 | #1,614 | 43.1 |
| 1977 | 59 | #1,739 | 38.5 |
| 1976 | 58 | #1,680 | 39.6 |
| 1975 | 66 | #1,528 | 45.3 |
| 1974 | 109 | #1,076 | 74.3 |
| 1973 | 55 | #1,649 | 37.7 |
| 1972 | 34 | #2,231 | 22.4 |
| 1971 | 28 | #2,605 | 16.8 |
| 1970 | 50 | #1,784 | 28.6 |
| 1969 | 23 | #2,774 | 13.6 |
| 1968 | 20 | #2,882 | 12.2 |
| 1967 | 25 | #2,436 | 15.1 |
| 1966 | 19 | #2,853 | 11.2 |
| 1965 | 26 | #2,345 | 14.7 |
| 1964 | 18 | #3,005 | 9.5 |
| 1963 | 27 | #2,310 | 14.0 |
| 1962 | 34 | #1,993 | 17.3 |
| 1961 | 24 | #2,475 | 11.9 |
| 1960 | 22 | #2,577 | 10.9 |
| 1959 | 23 | #2,399 | 11.4 |
| 1958 | 23 | #2,384 | 11.4 |
| 1957 | 24 | #2,281 | 11.7 |
| 1956 | 24 | #2,254 | 12.0 |
| 1955 | 16 | #2,848 | 8.2 |
| 1954 | 22 | #2,308 | 11.3 |
| 1953 | 22 | #2,240 | 11.7 |
| 1952 | 28 | #1,895 | 15.1 |
| 1951 | 14 | #2,819 | 7.8 |
| 1950 | 22 | #2,057 | 12.8 |
| 1949 | 19 | #2,277 | 11.1 |
| 1948 | 9 | #3,616 | 5.3 |
| 1947 | 15 | #2,643 | 8.5 |
| 1946 | 12 | #2,893 | 7.6 |
| 1945 | 8 | #3,419 | 6.1 |
| 1944 | 15 | #2,298 | 11.3 |
| 1942 | 5 | #4,694 | 3.7 |
| 1941 | 6 | #4,005 | 5.0 |
| 1940 | 8 | #3,242 | 7.0 |
| 1935 | 11 | #2,593 | 10.5 |
| 1933 | 7 | #3,447 | 6.9 |
| 1932 | 8 | #3,306 | 7.5 |
| 1931 | 5 | #4,405 | 4.7 |
| 1930 | 7 | #3,697 | 6.2 |
| 1929 | 5 | #4,643 | 4.5 |
| 1928 | 7 | #3,800 | 6.1 |
| 1927 | 7 | #3,909 | 5.9 |
| 1926 | 6 | #4,375 | 5.1 |
| 1924 | 6 | #4,528 | 4.8 |
| 1923 | 10 | #3,152 | 8.3 |
| 1922 | 11 | #2,983 | 9.2 |
| 1921 | 6 | #4,539 | 4.9 |
| 1919 | 8 | #3,502 | 7.1 |
| 1918 | 7 | #3,923 | 6.0 |
| 1917 | 10 | #2,910 | 9.2 |
| 1915 | 11 | #2,557 | 11.2 |
| 1912 | 5 | #3,024 | 9.0 |
| 1904 | 6 | #1,682 | 21.8 |
| 1897 | 6 | #1,403 | 25.6 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Blythe a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 5,441 Americans recorded as Blythe, 95% are girls and 5% boys. In 2025 it went to 92 girls and 10 boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Blythe: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Blythe, and how old are they?
5,050 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 93% of the 5,441 Americans ever recorded as Blythe. The median Blythe alive today is 22 years old; half are between 11 and 42.
The 2020 Census counted 4,441 people named Blythe (4,183 women and girls, 258 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 4,529 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 32 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 324 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 701 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 996 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,320 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,680 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Blythe born?
The states with the most babies named Blythe are Texas, North Carolina and Virginia, with 71% of its births recorded by state in 2025; Virginia is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 10 | #2,064 | 0.9× |
| North Carolina | 8 | #1,075 | 0.9× |
| Virginia | 6 | #1,061 | 0.4× |
| California | 5 | #3,186 | 0.8× |
| Georgia | 5 | #1,567 | 0.6× |
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Blythe with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Blythe
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Blythe and names like it
- Compare Blythe and LieselBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2010sBlythe peaked in 2013.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Blythe since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Blythe: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2013The year the most babies were named Blythe.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Blythe alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with BMost given first.