Name Awesome

Blythe

#2,052 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Merry

Blythe has been given to 5,441 babies in the U.S. since 1897. In 2025 it ranked #2,052 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2013, with 174 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 95% girls, 5% boys all-time.

Babies named Blythe, 2025

1 in 36,000

Blythe over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Blythe over time

In 2025, Blythe went to 90% girls and 10% boys.

18972025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Blythe: meaning, origin, and history

Merry

surname transfer

What Blythe means

Blythe means “merry”, associated with blīþe.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

English surname, from Old English blīþe (“merry”). Many senses are derived from placenames, such as the River Blythe, all from the Old English adjective.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Blythe (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Blythe is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

Blythe comes through Old English blīþe.

Blythe is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Blythe is pronounced /blaɪð/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 5,168 girls were recorded with the name Blythe between 1897 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 174 in 2013; its best national rank was #1,076 in 1974.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #2,103 in 2020 to #2,052 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,495 in 2015 to #2,052 in 2025.

In the United States, 273 boys were recorded with the name Blythe between 1915 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 11 in 2000; its best national rank was #2,896 in 1941.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #7,586 in 2020 to #7,743 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #10,839 in 2015 to #7,743 in 2025.

How common is Blythe?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 36,000
92 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 17,500
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#2,052
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
24,978 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Blythe sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5001%

Put another way: gather 24,978 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Blythe. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Blythes were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Blythe was born before 2001 — so the typical Blythe is around 24 today.

Median birth year
2001
About 24 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
26.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
50.8%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
4,922
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 26.7% of all recorded uses (1,378).

Is Blythe rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−179
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+51
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
−557
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.60×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
52.9%
Peak was 2013 (174)
Years since peak
12
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
16.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,076
1974

Spellings of Blythe

Blythe is not the most common spelling — Edythe is, with 69.3% against Blythe's 25.8%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Blythe is used

Across 2016–2025, Blythe was most concentrated in South Carolina — about 1 in 5,000 girls, against 1 in 16,914 across all states with data. It was least common in Ohio (1 in 100,000).

120 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1South Carolina1 in 5,000
  2. 2Iowa1 in 5,263
  3. 3North Carolina1 in 6,250
  4. 4Georgia1 in 9,091
  5. 5Louisiana1 in 9,091
  6. 6Virginia1 in 10,000
  7. 7Texas1 in 14,286
  8. 8California1 in 20,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Blythe around the world

Where Blythe ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #2,138
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1992–2025
    #539
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1992–2024
    #1,854
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1976–2012
    #871
    in 2012

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Blythe

People whose public names include Blythe, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Blythe by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#2,052
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 51
Best rank ever
#1,076
1974
Peak year
2013
174 that year
First recorded
1897
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
5,168
Count in 2025
92

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#7,743
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 157
Best rank ever
#2,896
1941
Peak year
2000
11 that year
First recorded
1915
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
273
Count in 2025
10

Names similar to Blythe

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

EdytheBlyssXantheFaytheRutheFaitheKatheDorotheMartheEditheArdytheBertheCatheMaytheJudytheHeatheJuditheAgatheIantheDortheKaetheMaitheBlythBlithe

Names with a curve like Blythe

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Blythe, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

FarahKerenKarmenCharisShoshanaDevorahAvivaAdinaRochelYaelAyeshaTova

Sibling names for Blythe

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Blythe

Top names of 2013, Blythe's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 1974Girls' names starting with BVirtue Names