In English, I also hear it said as [blansh] as opposed to [blanch], which I think is a little softer. Either way, I think it’s a lovely name! It’s elegant and sophisticated, capable of being tough or soft whenever necessary. Every Blanche I know wears it well, with any pronunciation :D.
I think Blanche is beautiful. I love the elegance, the French charm, and of course, the namesake of Blanche Devereaux. Overall, I think Blanche is a wonderful name.
Pronounced in French it sounds soft and elegant: blawnsh😇Pronounced in English, however, it sounds terrible, I cannot, for the life of me, say it without sounding harsh: BLANCH👺.
In French it's alright, but the English pronunciation is harsh, horrendous and frankly quite plain. If you say you like the English pronunciation, you're certainly either deaf or lying to yourself, perhaps because you're a fan of the Golden Girls or because you think liking something French makes you sound sophisticated. When I first heard this name in a book, I thought it would be said the French way, but my mother corrected me and I was bewildered as to why someone would choose something like that for a child. In my 6th grade class, someone called Blanche was mentioned and everyone in the class agreed the name was strange and awful. Don't get me wrong, I like the French language, but English pronunciation often spoils French words. I much prefer Blanca.
― Anonymous User 2/3/2024, edited 2/25/2024
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Blanche Yurka (born Blanch Jurka, 1887 – 1974) was an American stage and film actress and director. She was an opera singer with minor roles at the Metropolitan Opera and later became a stage actress, making her Broadway debut in 1906 and established herself as a character actor of the classical stage, also appearing in several films of the 1930s and 1940s.
Blanche Kelso Bruce (March 1, 1841 – March 17, 1898) was born into slavery in Prince Edward County, Virginia and went on to become a politician who represented Mississippi as a Republican in the United States Senate from 1875 to 1881. He was the first elected African-American senator to serve a full term.
― Anonymous User 7/4/2021
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Also Judeo-French and Judeo-Anglo-Norman. Source: Seror, Simon "Les noms des femmes juives en Angleterre au Moyen Âge".
I prefer Blanch, as opposed to Blawnsh, because Blawnsh reminds me of those exaggerated laughs only people with status and wealth or high-class cartoon villains can achieve, "Haw haw haw, you've fallen into my trap", it also sounds a bit too sophisticated opposed to the straight-forward Blanch. Blawnsh is still a nice pronunciation though, I just prefer Blanch over it.
― Anonymous User 10/24/2020
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I think pronounced the French way, it sounds vintage and sophisticated. It also makes a nice name for a white cat.
In 2018, 87 is the most common age for an American (U.S.) Blanche who is registered female with the Social Security Administration. It is the 1, 221st most common female first name for living U.S. citizens.
― Anonymous User 10/5/2018
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Seemingly racist connotations between 'a streetcar' and the definition: white; which is common to French and the Latinate languages. I would personally avoid this one.
Blanche Ravalec is a French actress, dubbing artist and a former stewardess. Ravalec is well known for her role as Dolly, Jaws' girlfriend in the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker. Beyond this, however, she has made over seventy appearances in French-language TV and film. Among her English-to-French dubbing work is as "Christina McKinney" in Ugly Betty, as "Emily Waltham" in Friends and as "Bree Van de Kamp" in Desperate Housewives. She also provides voices for the French dub of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.
More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Blanche are female. Also Breton.
― Anonymous User 6/5/2017
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Blanche (born as: Ellie Delvaux) is a Belgian singer and songwriter. She will represent Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Ukraine. Blanche previously competed on season five of The Voice Belgique, where she was a member of Team Cats on Trees.
This actually is my name. I used to hate it as a kid because everyone judged it badly. As I grew older I became fond of it for being uncommon and unique. I'm still proud of it to this day. Such a lovely name.
I think it's lovely and sophisticated, but only in the French pronunciation. The English one sounds much harsher and uglier, while in French it sounds so smooth and suave.
My name is Blanche, and I had never heard the French pronunciation. Then March of 2015 I got to go to Paris to the Eiffel Tower. It was amazing! On the bus ride from the train station they had a stop, it was "Blanche" and the bus driver called out the stop and I got so excited to hear it pronounced that way! I was named after my grandma who died when I was six so I didn't have a lot of memories with her but my mom was very close to her mother being the only girl with 5 brothers. I am the youngest of 10... 7 girls 3 boys... and I got her name. I am so proud to have her name. But I have to agree it sounds so much better in french. Thanks for all the comments I read on here.
Blanche was also the name of another daughter of King Louis IX of France and his wife Margaret of Provence. She was named after her older, deceased sister.
In the book Jane Eyre there's a character named Blanche Ingram.
― Anonymous User 6/10/2012
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I think it's a very classy name, despite being a bit harsh sounding. It sounds TERRIBLE in English, though. The French pronunciation is what captivates.
I love the name Blanche, however the English pronunciation is just terrible. I'm sorry, but seriously, BLANCH? The French pronunciation, BLAWNSH, sounds prettier. It was originally the nickname for a blonde, but I find it pretty for almost any girl.
This name is so ridiculous it's not even fair for an old lady to have. This name is said to mean "fair, white", but that's also another word for, or way of saying "blank". Makes perfect sense.
Blanche "Betty" Stuart Scott was among the first female aviators in the United States. She was the first female test pilot in the US, and the second woman to drive an automobile across the country, in 1910. She was also the first woman to fly in a jet airplane, in 1948. Go Blanche go!
In 1894, Blanche Douglass Leathers became the first woman master and steamboat captain on the Mississippi River. She was known as "The Angel of the Mississippi".
Blanche Brier is one of the main characters in the Fairy Tale Novels series by Regina Doman. She is a modern-day character who correlates both with Snow White in "Snow White and Rose Red" and Snow White in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves".
Blanche de la Force is the main character in the novel The Song at the Scaffold by Gertrud von de Fort. I think it may have been a play or movie at some time as well.
Blanche is really pretty--when pronounced the FRENCH way. The English pronunciation is absolutely horrid: "Blaaaaanch." I'm sorry, but that sounds like someone being sick. "Blawnsh" (French), however, is quite beautiful. I particularly like names derived from Blanche, or combined from Blanche and something else--like Blanchette or Blanchefleur.
Blanche Sweet (June 18, 1896 – September 6, 1986) was an American silent film actress who began her career in the earliest days of the Hollywood motion picture film industry.
It's a nice name, but I hate the English pronunciation.
― Anonymous User 5/6/2009
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I love love this name, I named my first daughter this and she turned 2 today! I speak French to her so for the longest time she would pronounce her name 'bébé', like baby. So adorable.
― Anonymous User 4/21/2009
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It sounds quite pretentious in either pronunciation. It's a French word, though, so it should be pronounced in the French way, don't you think? The English one just makes it seem like oh, once again, people pick a name, or more like a WORD, kind of like Bijou, in French, because they think it sounds so elegant and classy, but they have no clue how to pronounce it. But the French pronunciation sounds really elitist and snobby, and it's a word for a very common color anyway.
Blanche is beautiful when pronounced in French. I named my daughter Blanche after the heroine of a French Canadian book, Les Filles de Caleb.
― Anonymous User 10/27/2007
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When I was in kindergarten, I loved the show "The Golden Girls" and Blanche was my favorite character. Which is probably why I'm in the minority when I say that I like the name.
Considering that I've watched this British soap opera "Coronation Street" since I was a tot, and the Blanche on there is an interfering, nosy, grumpy old woman, it was only natural that I took an instant dislike to this name. I have thought it granny-ish and what-not, but now I've begun to like it, just as I have a lot of other 'older' names, such as Edith and Enid etc. It's become quite a fresh, young, attractive name to me now. It just seems to me that if you go around long enoguh saying 'Eurgh, I hate that name' you will begin to change your mind. So keep your options open! - I think this be a rockin' name for a kid.
This is my middle name, after my grandmother. It's not very well known, and when people see my name as Lauren B., they always think it's Beatrice. IT'S NOT! I think it's okay for a middle name but I wouldn't want to be named this, no offense, grandma.
Actually, this is just the feminine way of saying the color 'white'. The masculine way is 'blanc'. As far as I know, it has no connections to meaning 'fair'.
In response to echo_of_the_past, fair doesn't only mean "pretty" or "beautiful". It can mean light coloured, for example a very fair woman would probably look good, but also have rather pale skin. I hope I clarified that for you.
Frankly I'm not very fond of this name, and I especially dislike the English pronunciation of it ("Blanch" just really throws it away). It sounds so plain and yet so overdone to me. "Blanca," the Spanish version of this name, sounds prettier to me.