Blake
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Meaning
dark; pale
The story
Blake comes from an English surname with two possible and nearly opposite sources. One nickname came from Old English words for black or dark; another may have meant pale or bright. Centuries of spelling blurred them together, so the honest meaning is a fork rather than one tidy definition. The surname became a given name and later a unisex one, with poet and artist William Blake giving it literary weight and actress Blake Lively making the feminine use highly visible. The US curve is quiet before the 1970s, rises through the 1980s and 1990s, reaches its strongest point in the 2000s, and then holds a slightly lower level through the 2010s and 2020s. Blake's modern appeal fits its shape: one syllable, a surname edge, and a history that allows darkness and brightness to coexist.
The formal names behind Blake
Blake is an established short form of this name.
Blakely · English origin · place name/surname, traditionally "dark meadow"
How popular is Blake around the world?
In the United States, 17,139 babies were named Blake between 2020 and 2025. In Scotland, 102 boys named Blake were registered in 2024, the 41st most common name among boys that year.
Blake is on the official records of the United States, Scotland, South Australia, Canada, New Zealand, England and Wales, Ireland, Austria and Spain.
United States
1 in 1,300
In the United States, 17,139 babies were named Blake between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Blake peaked in the 2000s. In 2025 Blake went to 1,035 girls and 1,080 boys in the US Social Security record, one of the few names given to girls and boys in nearly equal numbers. Blake went to 4,986 US babies in 2015 and 2,115 in 2025, 42% of the earlier figure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Scotland
1 in 370
In Scotland, 102 boys named Blake were registered in 2024, the 41st most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
South Australia
1 in 6102017
In South Australia, 28 boys were registered as Blake in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Canada
1 in 870
In Canada, 224 boys named Blake were born in 2024, the 143rd most common name among boys that year.
In Canada, 196 girls named Blake were born in 2024, the 137th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
New Zealand
1 in 1,300
In New Zealand, 33 boys named Blake were registered in 2025.
In New Zealand, 13 girls named Blake were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
England and Wales
1 in 1,400
In England and Wales, 367 boys named Blake were born in 2025, the 144th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Ireland
1 in 1,500
In Ireland, 33 boys named Blake were born in 2025, the 156th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Austria
1 in 76,000
In Austria, 1 boy named Blake was born in 2025, ranked 1,842nd among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Spain
1 in 1.9M
In Spain, 23 residents are named Blake, ranked 26,875th among men, with a mean age of 15.4 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Mexico City City
last on record 2021
Blake is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
New South Wales
outside the top 100
Blake is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
Poland
last on record 2016
Blake is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Not on the record in Argentina and Puerto Rico: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Blake
Most people given the name Blake in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Nickname-proof names · Gender-neutral names · Truly unisex names · Climbers and fallers
The Blake deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Blake truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Blake fits with your family’s names and surname.
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