unisex name
Blair
BLAIR
- Origin Scottish
- Gender Unisex
- Syllables 1
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 45,814
the United States
#169
2025 births
Blair is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin meaning "plain" or "field." It comes from blàr, an open stretch of ground — and by extension a battlefield, since that is where battles were fought.
- Blair is a name of Scottish origin.
- Peaked in 2025, when 1,876 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 1,767 babies in the United States is given this name.
- Blair started out as a boys' name and is now given almost entirely to girls.
- First appears in US birth records in 1881.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Blair over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 43 |
| 1890s | 56 |
| 1900s | 81 |
| 1910s | 508 |
| 1920s | 796 |
| 1930s | 647 |
| 1940s | 930 |
| 1950s | 2,499 |
| 1960s | 2,733 |
| 1970s | 2,103 |
| 1980s | 6,588 |
| 1990s | 5,320 |
| 2000s | 2,502 |
| 2010s | 5,500 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 7,970 |
What Blair means
Blair means a plain, a level field or a clearing. The same word means battlefield in Gaelic, because open ground was where armies met, so the two senses are one word rather than two.
Where Blair comes from
Blair comes from the Scottish Gaelic blàr, a plain or field, which also serves as the word for a battle — Blàr Chùil Lodair is the Gaelic name for Culloden. It appears across Scotland in place names such as Blairgowrie and Blair Atholl, and families took it as a surname. Its use as a first name was male and Scottish before becoming largely female in America, a shift accelerated by Blair Warner in The Facts of Life from 1979 and later Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl.
Blair in use
Our data records Blair for both sexes and shows it peaking in 2025 and still rising, and it first appears in our records in 1881. In Britain the name carries a political association from 1997 onward that has kept it comparatively rare as a first name here — the same pattern our Sloane entry describes, where a British meaning blocks a name only in Britain.
How popular is Blair?
In 2025, Blair was given to 1,876 babies in the United States, ranking #169 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Blair is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Blair
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Blair also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Blair over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Blair in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Blair
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Blair — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Blair
What does the name Blair mean?
Blair means "plain" or "field," from the Scottish Gaelic blàr.
Does Blair mean battlefield?
The same Gaelic word means both. Open ground was where battles were fought, so it is one word rather than two.
Is Blair a boy's or a girl's name?
Both. It was male and Scottish before becoming largely female in America.
How popular is the name Blair?
In 2025, Blair was given to 1,876 babies in the United States, ranking #169 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
How many syllables are in Blair?
Blair has 1 syllable.
When was Blair most popular?
Blair peaked in 2025, when 1,876 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Blair a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Blair currently ranks #59 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.