Fun Facts About the Name Baize
- 12 babies named Baize: U.S. records list 12 babies given the name Baize from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Baize Mean?
Baize is uncommon as a personal name; it is met far more often as an English surname and as the ordinary English word for a coarse woolen cloth. Because the given name has no well-documented origin of its own, its meaning cannot be stated with confidence.
The English word baize - the heavy, usually green cloth used to cover billiard and card tables - comes through Middle French baies, plural of baie, and ultimately from Latin badius, "bay-colored, chestnut-brown." The fabric was originally a bay-colored woolen cloth; the green now associated with gaming tables is a later convention, not part of the word's etymology.
In Chinese, Bai Ze (白澤, simplified 白泽) is built from 白 bái, "white," and 澤 zé, "marsh, pool," giving the literal sense "white marsh." It is chiefly known as the name of a mythical beast, though both characters are ordinary Chinese words that also appear in personal names.
Whether the English given name comes from the cloth word, from a surname, or from the Chinese name is not documented, so the meaning of the given name is best described as uncertain.
Baize Name History & Origins
In Chinese tradition, the Bai Ze is a legendary beast. Stories say it appeared to the Yellow Emperor, Huangdi, and described the appearance and habits of thousands of supernatural beings, knowledge said to have been collected in the lost Bai Ze Tu (白澤圖, "Bai Ze's chart"). Fragments of that catalog, which lists spirits and how to deal with them, survive in classical encyclopedias and in manuscripts from Dunhuang. The creature was later pictured in Chinese and Japanese art, often with horns and in some later images with extra eyes; the Japanese form of the name is Hakutaku. These are legend and manuscript traditions, not records of a historical person.
The English word baize is recorded from the early 16th century for a coarse woolen cloth, often dyed in bright colors and used for hangings, lining, and later for table coverings. By the 18th and 19th centuries it was so closely tied to billiard and card tables that "the baize" became a common way of referring to the gaming table itself.
Baize also appears as a family name in the English-speaking world, and as a first name it is rare. No documented line connects the Chinese beast, the cloth word, or the surname to the modern given name, and the name's development as a first name cannot be traced with confidence.
How Popular is the Name Baize?
Baize has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2010. Its best rank was #9,801 in 2010.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | #12,489 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2010 | #9,801 | 7 | 0.0004% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Baize Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You can go to great heights and equally great depths. You are emotional and fixed in your opinions. You are hospitable, sentimental, often psychic, sometimes moody. You are ruled by love and the lack of it and feel a need to be encouraged and appreciated. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are very intuitive. You have a reservoir of inspired wisdom combined with inherited analytical ability, which could reward you through expressions of spiritual leadership, business analysis, marketing, artistic visions, and scientific research. Operating on spiritual side of your individuality can bring you to the great heights, and drop you off if you neglect your spiritual identity. You are always looking for an opportunity to investigate the unknown, to use and show your mental abilities, to find the purpose and meaning of life. You want to grow wise and to understand people and things. You need privacy to replenish your energy. You have a unique way of thinking, intuitive, reflective, absorbing.
✦ Baize's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Baize's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.