unisex name · in the US
Blake
BLAYK (English)
- Origin English
- Gender Unisex (US)
- Syllables 1
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 242,544
the United States
#296
2025 births
Blake is a name of Old English origin with two opposite meanings. It comes from either blæc, black, or blac, pale — two words so close in spelling that medieval scribes confused them, and the name kept both.
- Blake is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 2012, when 6,450 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 1,568 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1883.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Blake Over Time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, which so far covers 2020 to 2025.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 19 |
| 1890s | 37 |
| 1900s | 45 |
| 1910s | 260 |
| 1920s | 414 |
| 1930s | 320 |
| 1940s | 583 |
| 1950s | 2,605 |
| 1960s | 4,807 |
| 1970s | 5,670 |
| 1980s | 26,145 |
| 1990s | 47,797 |
| 2000s | 51,447 |
| 2010s | 49,335 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 17,139 |
What Blake Means
Blake means black or dark-haired, and equally pale or fair-haired. The two Old English words differed by one vowel, and surviving records cannot always tell which was intended.
Where Blake Comes From
Blake descends from two Old English words that were nearly identical in writing: blæc, black, and blac, pale or shining. Both produced nicknames for coloring, and both became the surname Blake, which is why reference works give contradictory meanings without either being wrong. The poet and printmaker William Blake, born 1757, is its best-known bearer. Blake is separately one of the most common surnames in the west of Ireland, borne by one of the Tribes of Galway, where it derives from a Norman family nicknamed for dark hair.
Blake in Use
Birth records record Blake for both sexes and shows it falling, peaking in 2012, at 144 in England and Wales. It first appears in birth records in 1883. It is the clearest example on this site of a name that means one thing and its opposite.
How Popular Is Blake?
In 2025, Blake was given to 2,115 babies in the United States, ranking #296 that year. It ranks among the top 1,000 names in the United States.
Where Blake Is Used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names That Peaked Alongside Blake
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents Who Like Blake Also Like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Blake over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Boys' or Girls' Name?
Blake is used differently depending on where you are. Each figure is the share of babies given the name who were girls, over the last ten years of that country's records.
- United States Both 40% girls · 32,518 babies
- England & Wales Both 12% girls · 7,316 babies
- Canada Both 38% girls · 5,464 babies
- Scotland Both 19% girls · 1,429 babies
- Ireland Both 11% girls · 589 babies
- Northern Ireland Boys' 8% girls · 313 babies
- France Both 36% girls · 55 babies
How to Say Blake
- English BLAYK /bleɪk/
Blake in Other Languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling Names for Blake
Names from the same era that do not rhyme or share an initial with Blake — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common Questions About Blake
What does the name Blake mean?
Both "black" and "pale" — from two Old English words, blæc and blac, that differed by one vowel and were confused in writing.
How can Blake mean opposite things?
Medieval scribes could not reliably distinguish blæc from blac, so both nicknames produced the same surname.
Is Blake a boy's or a girl's name?
Both. It is recorded as unisex in England and Wales and in the United States.
How popular is the name Blake?
In 2025, Blake was given to 2,115 babies in the United States, ranking #296 that year. It ranks among the top 1,000 names in the United States.
How many syllables are in Blake?
Blake has 1 syllable.
When was Blake most popular?
Blake peaked in 2012, when 6,450 babies were given the name. It has been falling over the past decade.
Is Blake a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Blake currently ranks #41 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.