# Blake (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/blake/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | English |
| Meaning | “black”, “pale”, “fair”, “shining”, “white” |
| Pronunciation | /bleɪk/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Blayke, Blaeke |
| US babies named this | 206,623 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 186,558 / 20,065 (10% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 17,688, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

A surname derived from either Old English blæc (“black”) or from Old English blāc (“pale, fair, shining, white”), or as an anglicisation of Irish Ó Bláthmaic.

## What it means

Blake is grouped under black, light and white.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 325 | 817 |
| 2012 | 403 | 700 |
| 2013 | 536 | 551 |
| 2014 | 501 | 591 |
| 2015 | 752 | 424 |
| 2016 | 1,098 | 298 |
| 2017 | 1,185 | 269 |
| 2018 | 1,185 | 280 |
| 2019 | 1,388 | 224 |
| 2020 | 1,319 | 222 |
| 2021 | 1,504 | 199 |
| 2022 | 1,448 | 200 |
| 2023 | 1,351 | 221 |
| 2024 | 1,461 | 210 |
| 2025 | 1,035 | 295 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 5,617 | 73 |
| 2012 | 6,047 | 71 |
| 2013 | 5,649 | 75 |
| 2014 | 4,948 | 84 |
| 2015 | 4,234 | 96 |
| 2016 | 3,290 | 127 |
| 2017 | 2,626 | 149 |
| 2018 | 2,466 | 158 |
| 2019 | 2,141 | 183 |
| 2020 | 1,815 | 209 |
| 2021 | 1,850 | 205 |
| 2022 | 1,581 | 228 |
| 2023 | 1,374 | 254 |
| 2024 | 1,321 | 265 |
| 2025 | 1,080 | 316 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 8 | 2,893 |
| 2012 | 15 | 1,893 |
| 2013 | 19 | 1,587 |
| 2014 | 12 | 2,203 |
| 2015 | 27 | 1,240 |
| 2016 | 51 | 768 |
| 2017 | 87 | 499 |
| 2018 | 89 | 484 |
| 2019 | 97 | 432 |
| 2020 | 87 | 463 |
| 2021 | 102 | 428 |
| 2022 | 111 | 382 |
| 2023 | 101 | 408 |
| 2024 | 99 | 432 |
| 2025 | 65 | 596 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 831 | 79 |
| 2012 | 1,046 | 66 |
| 2013 | 1,083 | 56 |
| 2014 | 1,106 | 57 |
| 2015 | 1,024 | 62 |
| 2016 | 893 | 73 |
| 2017 | 799 | 84 |
| 2018 | 733 | 84 |
| 2019 | 646 | 96 |
| 2020 | 583 | 102 |
| 2021 | 771 | 74 |
| 2022 | 619 | 89 |
| 2023 | 509 | 104 |
| 2024 | 507 | 104 |
| 2025 | 367 | 144 |

## People named Blake

- Blake Lively, American actress (born 1987)
- Blake Clark, American stand-up comedian (born 1946)
- Blake Edwards, American film director, screenwriter and producer (1922-2010)
- Blake Griffin, American basketball player (born 1989)
- Blake Shelton, American country music singer and television personality
- James Blake, English singer-songwriter (born 1988)
- Blake Jenner, American actor
- Blake Michael, American actor
- Blake Wheeler, American ice hockey player
- Blake Ross, American software developer
- Blake Pieroni, American swimmer
- Blake Bashoff, American actor

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.