The baby name Blake blends buttoned-up style with a capable sound, and associations from literature to pop culture, too.
Thanks to Kelly for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
BLACK and WHITE
The baby name Blake means black. And white.
Opposites? Yes. But sound-wise, they’re not so far apart. The Old English word for black is blaec. But blac also means pale. (And sometimes blaec is spelled blac, so …) Swarthy or wan, this one word covered them both.
It eventually became Blake, and the surname was given to lots of different people based on their varying appearances.
WILLIAM BLAKE
The baby name Blake leans literary, thanks to a trail-blazing poet.
William Blake’s creative endeavors met with little success during his lifetime in the late 1700s and early 1800s. His contemporaries found him eccentric, even mad.
But the author is now considered a leading figure in the Romantic Age, lauded not only for his poetry, but for his paintings, too.
All these years later, the baby name Blake benefits from his artistic and literary legacy.
GO WEST
Sometime between eighteenth century England and twenty-first century America, the baby name Blake picked up a certain amount of Western flair.
One possible reason: the actor Robert Blake is remembered for his role in Baretta. But he started out as a child star, graduating from Our Gang to Red Ryder, a comic strip-turned-movie franchise. (If you’ve seen A Christmas Story, Ralphie longs for a Red Ryder BB Gun.) Back in the day, Blake played Red’s sidekick, a Native American orphan called Little Beaver.
It seems like too little to explain the success of a name, but the years track.
Robert Blake graduated to adult roles, but continued to appear in many a Western. It might be what transformed the name from English gentleman to at home on the range.
Of course, following the actor’s arrest for the 2001 murder of his ex-wife, Robert Blake might not be top of mind when it comes to this name. That’s okay, though – by the time he was acquitted and then found liable in civil court, we had plenty of other associations with the baby name Blake.
BLAKE CARRINGTON
Whether you can remember the 1980s ABC original, or you’re all about The CW’s 2017 reboot, the name Blake Carrington is tied to Dynasty.
Originally an Aaron Spelling prime time soap opera meant to compete with Dallas, Dynasty became a blockbuster in its own right.
When the series opens, oil magnate Blake Carrington has just married Krystle, his former secretary. We’ll eventually meet Blake’s ex, Alexis, as well as his entire extended family.
John Forsythe played the patriarch.
Drama and intrigue follows the family, with each season’s plot twists just a little more extreme. But Blake also evolves from ruthless to more sympathetic – at least by 1980s standards.
Grant Show plays Blake Carrington in the 2017 version. It picks up pieces of the original story, but updates them for our moment.
Carrington lends polish and sophistication to the baby name Blake.
SHELTON and LIVELY
Plenty of parents right now won’t think of Dynasty at all.
Many will think of country music’s Blake Shelton. Nominated for Grammys galore, with a string of hits, he’s also known as a judge on The Voice. If the baby name Blake didn’t have some Western swagger to begin with, Shelton added it in.
And then there’s Blake Lively, the actor, who makes the case that this surname name can be unisex.
BY THE NUMBERS
The baby name Blake hugged the edges of the US Top 1000 as far back as 1903.
But it wasn’t until 1989 that the name reached the US Top 100.
Credit almost certainly goes to Dynasty, which debuted in 1981 and ended its original nine season-run in 1989. The name rose in the rankings throughout the decade.
Blake remained a Top 100 pick through 2015.
As of 2020, the name has slid to #210 – still quite familiar, but no longer near the top of the popularity charts.
On the girls’ side, the baby name Blake debuted in the US Top 1000 in 1990 – long before Lively’s first big roles in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Gossip Girl. But it became a Top 300 name in 2016, as Lively graduated to leading lady status. It now stands at #222 for girls – an all-time high.
BIG-HEARTED and BOLD
There’s something about the sound of the baby name Blake. It’s a big-hearted name, robust despite its brevity. And there’s a boldness, too, one that carries from William Blake’s creativity to the pop culture figures that followed.
If you like your names polished but with a certain modern energy, then the baby name Blake might be perfect for your family.
What do you think of the baby name Blake?
First published November 16, 2011, this post was revised substantially and re-posted on June 16, 2021.
I really like Blake too, and I guess if the name is in the top100 for decades now, plenty of people probably like it too. I like the -ake soud, maybe because it reminds of Lake, serene but cool at the same time. I’m also surprised by the name’s longevity, but then there are certain names that seem modern but have actually been around forever: Riley, Kendall, Reece have been charting for boys since the 1800s, pretty impressive. Yet a lot of people disregard them as modern monikers.
I really love Blake. I actually had a stuffed animal that I named Blake when I was about 8 or so. I just love single syllable boys names, especially ones that sound at home in both cowboy boots and loafers. Plus I’ve been a Blake Shelton fan for over 10 years which just endears me to the name even more 😉
There was a girl in one of the seasons of 16 & Pregnant who named her son Blake. If I remember correctly she was in a tiny Colorado town and her family was military…
I really love the name Blake, because of William Blake (and perhaps a little because of illustrator Quentin Blake, who was such a fixture of my childhood).
However, it’s a name that nobody seems to like! Working class people say that it sounds snobby or feminine, while middle class people think it sounds lower-class, and potentially thuggish.
Frustratingly, there is often no real reason for the general dislike either – as with this thread, everyone just seems to go “meh”. It doesn’t seem to engender fierce hatred, which would at least show that it was interesting enough to provoke even a negative opinion. It’s always, “Fine for someone else to use”.
I don’t know how it ever got into the Top 50!
(Another Blake – Roj Blake from 70s British sci-fi show “Blake’s 7” – my older sister was a big fan).
My first thought is Quentin Blake too!
That being said, add me to the list of “eh”. It doesn’t really move me one way or the other… And I’m kind of surprised at the level of popularity, though I suppose there are a lot of names in the Top 100 that surprise me in the same way.
I’ve known a few, all male, all in their 30s now, which leads me to think they were born just before Dynasty debuted.
Blake sounds very American to me, even with William Blake being one of my favourite poets. It’s a nice name, but it sounds too modern for my tastes.
I have yet to meet a male Blake, which is interesting since I’ve known about 10 or so– all girls.
I’m surprised with its popularity that I haven’t met a Blake IRL. I wonder if it’s popularity is mostly regional (south?).
I went to school with two Blakes and a Drake. The sound doesn’t sound fresh to my ears. I am also not in love with it on a girl. It definitely feel too masculine to my ears.
Blake has always been kind of blah, or blank for me.
I’ve been trying to come up with something to say about this name, but I just can’t. For me, Blake, as a name isn’t bad, he’s just really not that interesting. Yes, his roots provide a fascinating read, but on sound alone? Meh.
My second cousin is named Blake. He used to babysit for our family when I was a baby, so I’m guessing he’s about 50 — I guess his parents were ahead of the curve.
Blake is solidly on it’s way to becoming a classic… but it’s not terribly exciting. I guess this one falls into that nebulous category of a perfectly nice name for someone else’s child.