Brief, bonny and blissful Blythe has all
the Puritan charm of Faith, but with far less usage.
Origin: |
Blythe is a virtue name, taken from the word blithe, originally the Old English bliðe "joyous, kind, cheerful, gentle, gracious, pleasant." It is of distinctly Germanic origin, cognate with the Old Norse bliðr "mild, gentle," Old High German blidi "happy, friendly," and Gothic bleiþs "kind, friendly, merciful." All are thought to come from the Proto-Germanic *blithiz "gentle, kind" — the same route that gives us the word bliss. |
Usage: |
Names containing the element bliðe were in use by the Anglo-Saxons, such as Blithhere, Blithhelm, Blithweard and Blithmund. Reaney and Wilson find Blitha de Costeseye (Cossey) in the 1230 Norfolk Curia Rolls and a Blithe de Ryseford in the Rotuli Hundredorum of Yorkshire in 1276. It was perhaps a shortening of the any of the above names, or the compound name Bliththryth (Blíððryð), the Anglo-Saxon form of Plectrudis (d.717), the wife of Pippin II. As a first name, neither Blitha nor any of the longer compound names were especially common. The surnames Blythe, Blyth, Bly, Bligh and Blight however, were not uncommon, and are either derived from the personal name Blitha, a nickname based on bliðe "merry, kind," or from the place, and local river, names Blythe (Warwickshire) and Blyth (Northumberland and Nottingham).Blythe was adopted as a given names by the Puritans in the 16th century. It was used particularly in Norfolk [as can be seen from the top 100 most popular names in Norfolk during the reign of Elizabeth I where Blythe ranked #35 for girls], but also Suffolk, Lincoln and London. It is interesting to note that the earlier record of Blitha de Costeseye also hails from Norfolk, so perhaps there was already local precedence for the name that continued through the centuries. In some cases, the name was actually recorded in 16th century Norfolk records as Blitha, though was more commonly Blyth(e). It was mostly feminine in use from the 16th century, but in a few cases was also masculine. Later use of the name for boys is most likely thanks to adoption of the surname Blyth — most commonly it is in this spelling for boys — as a first name. By the 19th century, Blyth was used as both a masculine and feminine name, though saw marginally more usage for boys. It is interesting to note that boys named Blyth often lived in Nottingham or Northumberland (from which the surname Blyth derives), while girls born in Norfolk were often named Blitha/Blytha (see above). Records for the name Blyth(e/a)/Blith(e/a) on UK census records are as follows: 1841: 34 males, 21 females From 1840 to 1970, Blythe consistently averaged 10 births per decade in England and Wales, becoming more commonly feminine in usage again by the 1920s. Since 1996, Blythe has had a mean average birth count of 16 births per year in England and Wales for girls. It peaked in 2005 at #990 (26 births); it's lowest rank was #1728 (10 births) in 2001. For boys, Blythe has ranked once: #4805 (3 births) in 2012, while Blyth ranked in 1998, 2006 and 2007 (each time with a birth count of 3). In Scotland from 2005 to 2011, Blythe has had a mean average birth count of 4 births per year, with the spelling Blyth also in use for both boys and girls (in each case for no more than one birth registration per gender in any given year). In 2012, Blythe ranked #1720 (17 births) in England and Wales and #467 (7 births) in Scotland. The spelling Blyth also had two birth registrations that year in Scotland; one boy and one girl, and Blythe was registered for 3 boys in England and Wales. |
Famous Bearers: |
Contemporary: * Blythe Danner (b. 1943), American actress. Other: * River Blythe, a river in Warwickshire. |
Variants: |
Blyth, Blithe |
Pronunciation: |
BLĪDTH [key] |
Possible diminutives: |
Blytie, Bebe |
Sibling Names: |
Margot Honor Constance Olive Agnes Mabel |
Name Lists: |
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Thanks to Lana for requesting this post.