Blanche

French
"white"

Blanche Origin and Meaning

The name Blanche is a girl's name of French origin meaning "white".

Blanche, which originated as a nickname for a pale blonde and then became associated with the notion of purity, was in style a century ago, ranking in the double digits until 1920. She then had to fight the stereotype of faded Southern belle, a la Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire and Blanche Devereaux in TV's Golden Girls. Now all three of the Golden Girls--Blanche, Rose and Dorothy--could be ready for revival, with Blanche sounding like a stronger, simpler alternative to Bianca.

A saint's name, Blanche was a royal name in France by the twelfth century, then was brought to England by the French wife of Henry I. One possible powerful namesake is Blanche Scott, one of the original daredevil aviatrixes. You might also take its meaning to relate to snow, making it one of the perfect winter baby names.

# 911 in the US

Blanche Rank in US Top 1000

# 858 on Nameberry

Blanche Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Blanche Popularity

Famous People Named Blanche

  • Blanche of Castile
    Queen consort of Louis VIII of France
  • Blanche of Lancaster
    mother of King Henry IV of England
  • Blanche of Namur
    Queen,consort of Magnus Eriksson of Sweden and Norway
  • Blanche of Valois
    Queen consort of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
  • Blanche of Anjou
    Queen consort of James II of Aragon
  • Blanche of Burgundy
    Queen consort of Charles the Fair of France
  • Blanche Dorothea Jones Calloway
    American jazz singer, sister of singer Cab Calloway
  • Blanche Baker
    American actress
  • Blanche Bates
    American actress
  • (Nettie) Blanche Lazzell
    American painter
  • Blanche Marie Louise Oelrichs
    American actress and poet
  • Blanche Ravalec
    French actress
  • Blanche Stuart Scott
    American aviatrix
  • (Sarah) Blanche Sweet
    American silent film actress
  • Blanche Douglass Leathers
    first American woman steamboat captain
  • Blanche Thebom
    American operatic soprano
  • Blanche Walsh
    American actress
  • (Josephine) Blanche d'Alpuget
    Australian novelist and wife of Prime Minister Bob Hawke
  • Blanche Frasure (Barrow)
    American outlaw of the Barrow Gang
  • Blanche Meyers Lambert Lincoln
    U.S. Senator from Arkansas
  • Blanche McManus
    American author and illustrator
  • Blanche Rodriguez Calderara
    Italian lyricist and YouTuber
  • Blanche Lovell
    mother of astronaut Jim Lovell, who was on Apollo 13
  • (Ellie) Blanche Delvaux
    Belgian singer and song writer

Blanche in Pop Culture

  • Blanche Devereaux
    character on TV's 'The Golden Girls'
  • Blanche Ingram
    character in 'Jane Eyre'
  • Blanche DuBois
    main character in 'A Streetcar Named Desire'
  • Blanche Evers
    the "prett" wife of Gordon Wright 'Confidence' (1880)
  • Blanche Morton
    Gracie's neighbor & bestfriend 'Burns & Allen Show'
  • Blanche
    Christina Hendricks's character in 'Drive' (2011 film)
  • Dr Blanche Mottershead
    character from series "Upstairs Downstairs"
  • Blanche Hunt
    character on British soap "Coronation Street"
  • Blanche Sinclair
    character from "This golden land" by Barbara Wood
  • Blanche
    a character in Rachel Hartman's Seraphina duet
  • Blanche
    the leader of Team Mystic in Pokémon Go
  • Blanche Shlesinger
    dog of comedian Iliza Shlesinger
  • Opal Blanche
    character in the webcomic "Riverside Extras" by Miri Chamberlain
  • Blance Coday
    character in "The Rose Years" series by Roger Lea MacBride