Blue
Feminine · “the color blue”
Blue is given to both — 503 girls and 950 boys since 1880. See Blue as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Blue is the last color languages name — many old languages had no word for it at all, including Homer's.
How old is the name Blue?
Blue first appears in US birth records in 1971 — 54 years ago. The typical Blue is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 500 people named Blue are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Blue most popular?
Blue peaked in 2021, reaching #3553 nationally. Today it ranks #4661, 1,108 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Blue
Ours, offered as ours. Homer describes the sea as wine-dark and the sky as bronze, and never once uses a word for blue, because Greek did not have a settled one. The same absence shows up in early Hebrew, Chinese and Japanese texts. Languages name black and white first, then red, then green and yellow, and blue last — probably because almost nothing you can hold in your hand is blue. Only the unreachable things are.
Meaning
the color blue
From Old French bleu, from a Germanic root; the Old English word was different and did not survive. Research on color vocabulary across languages found blue is consistently the last basic color term to appear.
Pronouncing Blue
BLOO
One syllable. There is no variation in English.
Nicknames for Blue
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1971
- Most girls named
- 202143 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3553reached in 2021
- Change vs 2024
- −9.4%29 in 2025, from 32
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Blue in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bleu in French — related form
- Azul in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Blues among us
people named Blue are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 55,423 born in 2025 was named Blue
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jameela test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Blue's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jameela climbed just as high around 1986, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jameela's path sketches the road Blue is walking now.
Blue sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Blue is headed
Blue should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Blue beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Blue in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning with a genuinely remarkable linguistic history.
- Four letters and one syllable — as short as a name gets.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- It is an ordinary English word and will be read as one.
- Blue also means sad in English, which will be played on.
- A one-syllable name gives no room for a nickname.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Blue to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Blue
Feminine · #4661 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Blues are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Blue are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Blue in 2025?
- Blue ranks #4661 among US girl names in 2025, with 29 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Blue?
- About 1 in every 55,423 US girls born in 2025 was named Blue — 29 in all.
- Will my child share the name Blue with classmates?
- Blue will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Blue
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ellenor#4661 · Roselie#4661 · Marni#4661 · Menucha#4661 · Infinity#4661 · Lilya#4661 · Railyn#4661 · Zada#4661
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Blue? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Blue and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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