Family name origins & meanings
- English : possibly from bleak ‘pale’ (first attested in the 16th century, but probably a much older word, derived from Old Norse bleikr, a cognate of Old English blāc). The name John Bleke is recorded at Haddenham, near Ely, in 1585. However, the Low German or Dutch name Bleeke was introduced to England by a waterman recorded at Gravesend, Kent, in 1653, and this may account for some if not all examples of the name.