William Blakely

(male) Probably the most successful of all the Old French names of Germanic origin that were introduced to England by the Normans. It is derived from Germanic wil ‘will, desire’ + helm ‘helmet, protection’. The fact that it was borne by the Conqueror himself does not seem to have inhibited its favour with the ‘conquered’ population: in the first century after the Conquest it was the commonest male name of all, and not only among the Normans. In the later Middle Ages it was overtaken by John, but continued to run second to that name until the 20th century, when the picture became more fragmented.

English, Scottish, and northern Irish: habitational name from any of various places in northern England and the Scottish Borders called Blakeley, named with Old English blæc ‘black’, ‘dark’ (see Black) + lēah ‘woodland clearing’. The Scottish surname may also have absorbed some cases of Blakelaw, from a place in the Borders named with Old English blæc ‘black’ + hlāw ‘hill’.