Blake Surname Meaning & Origin
What the Blake last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.
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Meaning and origin of the Blake last name
Meaning of the Blake last name: pale, or dark. Blake is a puzzling nickname: it can come from an Old English word for "dark" or from a very similar one meaning "pale", so it could describe either a dark or a fair person. The English name is common in the south and the Midlands. A curious detail: in Ireland a family called Blake became one of the Fourteen Tribes of Galway, the merchant families who ran that city for centuries, while William Blake was a celebrated London poet.
Arms associated with the Blake name
In England, gold stood for generosity and silver for peace, and arms used by Blake families speak that old language of colour.
Get your full Blake family history
This is only a glimpse of the Blake story. The full Blake history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Blake coat of arms. Get the full Blake report.
Blake name FAQ
What does the Blake name mean?
Pale, or dark. Common variants include Blac, Black, Blakey.
Where does the Blake surname come from?
It originates in England, and is also found in Ireland, the United States and Australia.
Is there a Blake coat of arms?
Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Blake coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.
Researched by Herald Lab Research Studio, since 1993. Sources: Reaney & Wilson, Dictionary of English Surnames; Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford); US Census Bureau 2010.