Blakely

Meaning of Blakely

Blakely comes from an English surname that began as a place name. It is formed from the Old English words blæc, 'black' or 'dark', and lēah, 'woodland clearing' or 'meadow', so it is usually explained as 'dark clearing' or 'dark meadow'. It is pronounced BLAYK-lee.

As a first name, Blakely is given mainly to girls. It is also the name of towns in Georgia and Pennsylvania.

In the U.S., the name was rare until the late 2000s: in 2008 it ranked 2,092nd. It then climbed every year to reach its highest rank, 156th, in 2021, and matched that in 2023. The number of babies given the name peaked in 2024, at 1,892. In 2025 it slipped to 191st, with 1,638 babies.