Bland is a surname thought to derive from Old English (ge)bland ‘storm’, ‘commotion’. 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 this country around 1660
Notable persons with that surname include:
Alexander Bland (1866–1947), Welsh international rugby playerBill or Billy Bland, see William Bland (disambiguation)Bobby Bland (1930–2013), American singerCarl Bland (born 1961), American footballerSir Christopher Bland (1938–2017), British politicianColin Bland (born 1938), Rhodesian cricketerDave Bland (1929–2013), Australian rules footballerEdward Bland (1926–2013), American composer and musical directorEleanor Taylor Bland (1944–2010), African-American writer of crime fictionElizabeth Bland (fl. 1681–1712), Englishwoman celebrated for her knowledge of HebrewFrancis Bland (1882–1967), Australian politicianGordon Bland (born 1941), former English cricketerHamilton Bland, BBC swimming commentatorHarriet Bland (1915–1991), American athleteHarry Bland (1898–after 1934), English professional footballerHubert Bland (1855–1914), British socialist and Fabian Society cofounderHumphrey Bland (1686–1763), British Army generalJames A. Bland (1854–1911), African-American musician and songwriterJoanne Bland, American civil rights activistJohn Bland (disambiguation)Joyce Bland (1906–1963), British film actressJune Bland (born 1931), British actressLeonard Thomas Bland (1851–1906), Canadian politicianMalcolm Bland, New Zealand footballerMaria Bland (1769–1838), British singerMartin Bland (born 1947), British statisticianMichael Bland (born 1969), American drummerNate Bland (born 1974), American former Major League Baseball pitcherSir Nevile Bland (1886–1972), British diplomatOscar E. Bland (1877–1951), U.S. Representative from IndianaS. Otis Bland (1872–1950), U.S. Representative from VirginiaPeregrine Bland (c.1596–1647), early Virginia settler and politicianPeter Bland (born 1934), British-New Zealand poet and actorRichard Bland (disambiguation)Robert G. Bland, American mathematician and operations researcherSalem Bland (1859–1950), Canadian Methodist theologianSammy Bland (born 1929), American broadcaster and entertainerSandra Bland (1987-2015), American woman found dead in a Texas jail cellTheodorick Bland (disambiguation)Tony Bland (1970-1993), an injured British man who was the subject of a notable court caseWilliam Bland (disambiguation)