# Blake (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/blake/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

An English surname transferred from the nickname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | nickname, from a description or nickname of an ancestor |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 73,797 |
| US rank (2010) | 447 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 4,184 people |
| Change since 2000 | +6.5% (69,279 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /bleɪk/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | Blayke, Blaeke |

## 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.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Blake in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 71% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 23% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.7% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.8% |
| Two or more races | 2.1% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Blake in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and South Africa.

## People named Blake

- James Blake, American tennis player
- Robert Blake, American actor (1933–2023)
- Geoffrey Blake, American actor
- Arthur Blake, American middle distance runner (1872–1944)
- Amanda Blake, American actress (1929–1989)
- Peter Blake, British artist (1932-)
- Michael Blake, American writer (1945-2015)
- Steve Blake, American basketball player
- Eubie Blake, American jazz pianist (1887–1983)
- Blind Blake, American blues singer and guitarist (1896–1934)
- Yvonne Blake, British-born Spanish costume designer (1940-2018)
- Wesley Blake, American professional wrestler

and 32 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Black, Blakey, Balk, Balke, Bialek, Blas, Blaise, Blasko, Blase, Blaze, Bullock, Bowles.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.