Blakeman
An English surname usually understood as a spelling variant of Blackman, originally a nickname for someone with dark hair or complexion.
The #9,615 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 91,345 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Blakeman is generally explained as a later form of Blackman, built from Middle English blacke/black plus man. In this sense it would have started as a descriptive nickname for a person with dark colouring, hair, or complexion. The spelling with -e- reflects common historical variation in English surname forms.
History
The name is recorded in medieval English sources in forms such as Blacman and Blakeman, showing that the spelling varied early on. It later persisted as a relatively uncommon English surname and also appears in North American records through migration from Britain. Some 19th-century surname writers treated it simply as a corruption or variant of Blackman.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century dictionary of surnames explicitly grouped Blakeman with Blackman and compared it to other colour-based surnames such as Whitman and Whiteman.
From the historical record
“of Arthur's Round Table. BLAKEMAN. A corruption of Blackman, a name probably given from having a dark complexion. BLAND. MQd, gentle, smooth. BLANEY. Local. Welsh, Bluenae, the inland extremity of a valley. BLASEDALE. Local. A place in Lancashire, England. BLAUVELT. (G-er.) Local The blue field; from Blau, blue…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names