Blain
A surname with several possible roots, most often treated as a place name or as a French/Scottish form related to Blair or Blane.
The #7,025 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 64,808 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Blain has more than one plausible explanation in the older surname books. Some writers treat it as a local name from Blain in Brittany, while others connect it with Scottish Blane or Blair. A further line of speculation in 19th-century sources links it to old Germanic forms based on a root meaning "bold" or to a nickname from a word for "fair" or "pale," but these explanations are less secure.
History
In Scottish and English records, Blain often appears alongside Blane and Blair, suggesting overlap in spelling and pronunciation. French surnames of the same form may reflect the place-name Blain in western France or related local forms such as Blin. Because the older authorities disagree, the surname is best treated as a cluster of related spellings rather than a single certain origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century source explicitly tells readers to see Blane for Blain, showing how fluid these spellings were in older surname scholarship.
From the historical record
“Berkshire. BLAIN. See Blane. BLAIR. The Blairs "of that ilk" In Ayrshire, have been seated in that co. for more than GOO years. They claim the chief- ship of all the Blairs in the S. and W. of Scotl.. though that honour is challenged by the B.'s of ij.althayock, co. Perth, who date back to the beginning of the…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom