The Blades surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 4,558 people carried this name — #7,320 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 64,500 people counted. That is up 3% from 4,406 in 2000.

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Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Blades was found among the farmers of Lincolnshire: 7 in every 10,000.

Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

Lincolnshire 7

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.

In Scotland’s registers today

Blades was recorded 10 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 1929th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 12. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

24 families named Blades, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 146 people lived in those households, 6.1 to a family on average. The table counts it together with one other spelling. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Maryland 17
Virginia 5
Pennsylvania 1
South Carolina 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 230 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Blades in American newspapers,
1880–1919.

Newspaper page from The New Orleans Daily Democrat carrying the name Blades
The New Orleans Daily Democrat 1880-02-15
Newspaper page from The Sun carrying the name Blades
The Sun 1919-04-06
Newspaper page from Tombstone Epitaph carrying the name Blades
Tombstone Epitaph 1917-01-07

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 1,350 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Blades in Australian newspapers,
1840s–1980s.

5,408 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Blades. The most, 1,024, date from the 1930s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in South Australia, at 3.3 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

South Australia 2,007
New South Wales 1,446
Queensland 656
Victoria 644
Tasmania 473
Western Australia 157
ACT (Canberra) 18
Northern Territory 2

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Blades.

Who carried it

People named Blades,
with a public archive behind them.

  • William Blades
    William Blades 1824–1890 · printer
  • Rowland Blades, 1st Baron Ebbisham
    Rowland Blades, 1st Baron Ebbisham 1868–1953 · politician
  • Rowland Blades, 1st Baron Ebbisham
    Rowland Blades, 1st Baron Ebbisham 1868–1953 · politician
  • Edward Blades
    Edward Blades 1875–1953 · mathematician
  • Edward Blades
    Edward Blades 1875–1953 · mathematician
  • William Blades 1798–1877 · judge

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Blades,
in the records of 6 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States387 records

387 records of the Blades name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 129
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 68
  • Other U.S. records 190
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Ethel Blades

    Born 1910 in Mississippi. Enlisted 1942 at Chicago, Illinois; auto mechanic from Cook County, Illinois. U.S. Army veteran; died 1993, buried at Mount Vernon Memorial, Lemont, Illinois.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Thomas Nelson Blades

    Born 1942; from Easton, Maryland. U.S. Army, infantryman; killed in action 1968 in Quang Tin, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Eliza Blades

    Arrived at New York in 1857 aboard the Manhattan from Liverpool, aged 19; servant.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 387 records for Blades in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Canada462 records

462 records of the Blades name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 446
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 6
  • Other Canadian records 10
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Joseph R. Blades

    Buried in 1969 at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, aged 22.

    Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax.
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Charles Edward Blades

    Died 1950 in East Pubnico, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  3. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record James Blades

    Died in service in 1918.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Showing 3 of 462 records for Blades in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

Australia271 records

271 records of the Blades name in Australia
  • Tasmanian Names Index 130
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 89
  • Other Australian records 52
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record John Blades

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the China, sailing from Woolwich in 1846. Native of Boston, Lincolnshire. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1855. Married 1855 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 25.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record John Sharp Blades

    Died 1884 in Beaconsfield, Tasmania, aged 74. Will registered in Tasmania in 1884.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Laura Nelly Pretoria Blades

    Born 1900 in James Street, Battery Point, Tasmania. Married 1919 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 19.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 271 records for Blades in Australia.

Counts: Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

United Kingdom21 records

21 records of the Blades name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 9
  • Stirling Council burial records 8
  • Other British records 4
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record David Blades

    Died 1956, aged 72; buried at Bannockburn Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record William Blades

    Will proved in 1937; of Llandudno, Carnarvon.

    National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0)
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record J. Blades

    Yeomanry. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 21 records for Blades in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Netherlands4 records

4 records of the Blades name in the Netherlands Dutch population registers
  1. A page of the 1910 United States census, Milwaukee
    Example: U.S. census, 1910
    Population register Cissy Blades

    In the population register of Roermond; born 1892 in Woolwich.

    Open Archives, Gemeentearchief Roermond (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the 1910 United States census, Milwaukee
    Example: U.S. census, 1910
    Population register Epharim of Blace Blades

    In the population register of Vlissingen; born 1850 in Nova Scotia.

    Open Archives, Zeeuws Archief (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the 1910 United States census, Milwaukee
    Example: U.S. census, 1910
    Population register Blanche Blades

    In the population register of Roermond; born 1896 in (China).

    Open Archives, Gemeentearchief Roermond (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 4 records for Blades in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. census of 1910, Milwaukee (public domain).

New Zealand3 records

3 records of the Blades name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 2
  • Thames-Coromandel District cemetery records 1
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Henry Blades

    Buried in 1928 at Shortland Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato, aged 82.

    Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Percy Edward Blades

    Died 1938, aged 55; buried at Bromley Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Jane Blades

    Died 1935, aged 74; buried at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Blades.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Blades is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the Blades volume
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