Bland (surname)

Bland is a surname thought to derive from Old English (ge)bland ‘storm’, ‘commotion’.[1] It is thought to have originated in an area in Yorkshire (where there is a place called Bland Hill)

It predates the adjective 'bland' meaning "characterless or uninteresting" which arrived in England around 1660.[2]

Notable persons with that surname include:

• Alexander Bland (1866–1947), Welsh international rugby player
• Bill or Billy Bland, see William Bland (disambiguation)
• Bobby Bland (1930–2013), American singer
• Carl Bland (born 1961), American footballer
• Sir Christopher Bland (1938–2017), British politician
• Colin Bland (born 1938), Rhodesian cricketer
• Dave Bland (1929–2013), Australian rules footballer
• Edward Bland (1926–2013), American composer and musical director
• Edward David Bland (1848-1927), American politician
• Eleanor Taylor Bland (1944–2010), African-American writer of crime fiction
• Elizabeth Bland (fl. 1681–1712), Englishwoman celebrated for her knowledge of Hebrew
• Francis Bland (1882–1967), Australian politician
• Gordon Bland (born 1941), former English cricketer
• Hamilton Bland, BBC swimming commentator
• Harriet Bland (1915–1991), American athlete
• Harry Bland (1898–after 1934), English professional footballer
• Hubert Bland (1855–1914), British socialist and Fabian Society cofounder
• Humphrey Bland (1686–1763), British Army general
• James A. Bland (1854–1911), African-American musician and songwriter
• Joanne Bland, American civil rights activist
• John Bland (disambiguation)
• John Mark Bland (1976), American Radio Host
• Joseph Edward Bland (born 1866), American politician
• Joyce Bland (1906–1963), British film actress
• June Bland (born 1931), British actress
• Leonard Thomas Bland (1851–1906), Canadian politician
• Malcolm Bland, New Zealand footballer
• Maria Bland (1769–1838), British singer
• Martin Bland (born 1947), British statistician
• Michael Bland (born 1969), American drummer
• Nate Bland (born 1974), American former Major League Baseball pitcher
• Sir Nevile Bland (1886–1972), British diplomat
• Oscar E. Bland (1877–1951), U.S. Representative from Indiana
• S. Otis Bland (1872–1950), U.S. Representative from Virginia
• Peregrine Bland (c.1596–1647), early Virginia settler and politician
• Peter Bland (born 1934), British-New Zealand poet and actor
• Rachael Bland (1978–2018), Welsh journalist and radio presenter
• Revett Henry Bland (1811–1894), early settler and a government administrator in colonial Australia.
• Richard Bland (disambiguation)
• Robert G. Bland, American mathematician and operations researcher
• Roger Bland (born 1955), British curator and numismatist
• Salem Bland (1859–1950), Canadian Methodist theologian
• Sammy Bland (born 1929), American broadcaster and entertainer
• Sandra Bland (1987–2015), American woman found dead in a Texas jail cell
• Theodorick Bland (disambiguation)
• Tony Bland (1970-1993), an injured British man who was the subject of a notable court case
• Violet Bland (1863-1940), English Suffragette
• William Bland (disambiguation)