Blakeley
Of English origin, meaning "dark, bleak meadow or field".
Name Census estimates that about 1,362 living Americans carry the first name Blakeley. It is a predominantly female name (92.6% of registrations). The average person named Blakeley today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Blakeley births was 2024 (95 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Blakeley. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Blakeley is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 251,655 Americans
Peak year
2024
95 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2015 SSA rank
#2,036
Tracked since 1976
Gender
Gender distribution for Blakeley
Blakeley leans heavily female at 92.6% of total registrations, but 102 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Blakeley as a male name
- Ranked #10,840 in 2015
- 6 male births in 2015
- Peak: 1984 (9 births)
Blakeley as a female name
- Ranked #2,036 in 2024
- 95 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (95 births)
Popularity
Blakeley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Blakeley from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 607 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Blakeley remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Blakeley by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Blakeley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Blakeleys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. Texas, Alabama, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Blakeley, while Oklahoma, Mississippi, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Blakeley
The name Blakeley has its origins in the Old English language, tracing back to the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, around the 5th to 11th centuries. It is derived from the Old English words "blæc" meaning "black" or "dark," and "leah" meaning "a clearing in a forest" or "meadow." The name likely referred to someone who lived in a dark or shaded meadow or forest clearing.
During the Anglo-Saxon era, personal names often reflected physical characteristics, occupations, or locations associated with an individual. The name Blakeley would have been used to identify a person based on their dwelling place in a dark or shaded area.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Blakeley can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings and properties in England compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. This suggests that the name was in use by the late 11th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Blakeley. One example is Blakeley Wilson (1786-1847), an American politician who served as a United States Representative from Pennsylvania. Another is Blakeley Pease (1784-1853), an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States Representative from Connecticut.
Blakeley Johnston (1926-2003) was an American architect known for designing several high-profile buildings in Los Angeles, including the Arco Towers and the Union Bank Plaza. Blakeley Jones (1909-1992) was an American novelist and author of several works, including "The Whisper of the River" and "The Last Battle."
In the realm of sports, Blakeley Griffith (born 1992) is an American professional soccer player who currently plays as a defender for the San Jose Earthquakes in Major League Soccer. Her name serves as a testament to the enduring legacy of the Old English moniker Blakeley.
People
Blakeley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Blakeley as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Blakeley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Blakeley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,362 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Blakeley going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 251,655 US residents.
Is Blakeley a common name?
We classify Blakeley as "Rare". It ranks above 91.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,382 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Blakeley most popular?
The single biggest year for Blakeley was 2024, when 95 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Blakeley is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Blakeley a female name?
Yes, 92.6% of people registered as Blakeley in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.