Blakes History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Etymology of Blakes

What does the name Blakes mean?

There art two possible origins of the Irish surname Blakes. The first is that it originated from the Gaelic "O Blathmhaic," which translates as "descendant of Blathmhac," a personal name for the Gaelic "blath" meaning "flower", "blossom", "fame", "prosperity." The second was that the name could have been derived from the Old English word "blaec" meaning "dark" or "swarthy."

Early Origins of the Blakes family

The surname Blakes was first found in Connacht (Irish: Connachta, (land of the) descendants of Conn), where the Blake family were one of the Tribes of Galway, descending from Richard Caddell (le Blac), sheriff of Connacht in 1303, who came to Ireland with Prince John in 1185, and used both the surnames Caddell and Blake. 1

The name Caddell is Welsh, and means "warlike." It was not replaced completely by Blake until the 17th century, and for three hundred years, people with these surnames were referred to in municipal records by both names.

"The Blakes of Ireland descend from Richard Blake, who accompanied Prince John to that country in 1185, and settled in co. Galway." 2 Richard Caddle was sheriff of Connaught in 1306 A.D. and was a tenant of Falway under Richard de Burgo (Burke), the Red Earl of Ulster.

Early History of the Blakes family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Blakes research. Another 97 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1611, 1708, 1738, 1745, 1774, 1780, 1797, 1818 and 1849 are included under the topic Early Blakes History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Blakes Spelling Variations

The search for the origins of the name Blakes family name revealed numerous spelling variations. These variants can be somewhat accounted for when it is realized that before widespread literacy people only recognized their name by pronunciation; it was up to scribes to decide how it was to be formally recorded. Variations found include Blake, Caddell, Caddle and others.

Early Notables of the Blakes family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was Sir Francis Blake (1708-1780), 1st Baronet, mathematician, descended from the house of Menlough, co. Galway. His father, Robert Blake, by his marriage with Sarah, third daughter of his kinsman, Sir Francis Blake, knight, of Ford Castle, Northumberland, became possessed of the Twisell estate, in the county of Durham...
Another 56 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Blakes Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Blakes Ranking

In the United States, the name Blakes is the 14,687^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 3

Blakes migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Blakes Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Benjamin Blakes who was convicted in Hertford, Hertfordshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Bengal Merchant" on 4th August 1836, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 4

Citations +

MacLysaght, Edward, Supplement to Irish Families. Baltimore: Genealogical Book Company, 1964. Print.
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 7th October 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/bengal-merchant