| Blake | River | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | black OR pale — genuinely opposite meanings | River |
| Origin | english | english |
| Gender | Unisex | Unisex |
| Pronunciation | BLAYK | RIV-er |
| Syllables | 1 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1883 | 1971 |
| Peak year | 2012 (6,047) | 2021 (3,504) |
| In 2025 | 1,080 | 3,139 |
| Trend | Declining | Near its peak |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Blake | River |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 9,021 | 19,236 |
| 2010s | 41,721 | 13,860 |
| 2000s | 50,109 | 4,449 |
| 1990s | 45,873 | 2,023 |
| 1980s | 25,398 | 82 |
| 1970s | 5,443 | 26 |
| 1960s | 4,721 | 0 |
| 1950s | 2,594 | 0 |
| 1940s | 583 | 0 |
| 1930s | 320 | 0 |
| 1920s | 414 | 0 |
| 1910s | 260 | 0 |
| 1900s | 45 | 0 |
| 1890s | 37 | 0 |
| 1880s | 19 | 0 |
From two Old English words that fell together in Middle English: 'blaec' meaning 'black, dark' and 'blac' meaning 'pale, fair'. This produces a true opposite-meaning dispute, and for any given bearer it is usually impossible to tell which sense was meant.
An English nature name taken directly from the word 'river' (ultimately from Latin riparia, riparius 'of the riverbank').
River is more popular than Blake today: about 3,139 US babies were given the name River in 2025, compared with 1,080 named Blake.
Blake means black OR pale — genuinely opposite meanings (english origin), while River means River (english origin).
In US records, Blake first appears in 1883 and River in 1971, so Blake has the longer recorded history.