Blades
Likely a surname from a medieval personal name or a local place-name, with some early writers also linking it to sword blades.
The #7,320 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 67,737 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is historically explained in more than one way. One line of evidence treats Blades as a patronymic or surname from a medieval personal name such as Blade, with records of forms like Bladewine suggesting an old compound name element. Another tradition connects it with a place-name in northern England, with some sources suggesting a Danish or local origin from a settlement name near Durham. Later writers also noted the word blade itself, but that is more likely a descriptive association than a sure surname origin.
History
The surname is recorded in English sources from the medieval and early modern periods, with spellings such as Blade, Blades, Blaydes, and Blaides. Nineteenth-century antiquaries disagreed over whether it began as a family name from a personal name or from a local place-name, and the evidence does not fully settle the question. In the United States it remains a relatively uncommon surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some early surname writers tried to connect Blades with a place called Burs-blade or Purse-blades near Durham, though that explanation is not universally accepted.
From the historical record
“London, 14; Pbiladelphia, 11. Blades, Blade.— t BapL 't^e son of Blade,' An unquestloiiablc compound personal name occurs in the case of Gilbert' Bladewine, CO. Norf., 1273. A ; cf. Unwin,”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances