Blood
A surname with two main explanations: from the word for blood, or from a Welsh patronymic that later became anglicized as Blood.
The #5,964 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 53,509 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is usually explained in two ways. One line of interpretation connects it with Welsh patronymic forms such as Ap-Llud or related spellings that could be anglicized in various ways, including Blood and Blud. Another source derives it from Old Norse hlaudr, glossed in one 19th-century dictionary as meaning 'bashful' or 'timid,' though that explanation is less widely accepted today. Because the evidence in older surname books is mixed, the safest view is that Blood may have more than one origin in different families.
History
Bardsley notes forms such as Blood, Blud, and Bloyd in connection with Welsh patronymics, showing how the name could arise through spelling changes in English records. The surname is also well established in English-speaking countries and has continued as a relatively uncommon family name into modern times. Some bearers may descend from different roots, since surnames of this type often developed independently in separate places.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early surname writers loved to group Blood with other Welsh-looking forms such as Floyd and Flood, illustrating how unstable spelling could be in medieval and early modern records.
From the historical record
“guenot family in Ireland. BLOOD. O. Norse hlaudr, bashful, timid. Ferguson. BLOO:\£ER. A 'bloom' is a mass of iron that has gone a second time through the fire— A-Sax. hlovui; and a 'bloomary' was a refining house: hence probal)ly a Blcrpmer was a person employed in the ma- nufacture of iron. BLOOIMFIELD. A village…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom