Dirk Peter "Dick" Blok (7 January 1925 – 6 February 2019)^[1] was a Dutch scholar of onomastics. He was director of the Meertens Institute between 1965 and 1986. He succeeded founding director Piet Meertens.^[2] In 1979, during Blok's rule as director, the Institute was named after Meertens.^[3] Blok fictionally featured in the book cycle Het Bureau [nl] by J. J. Voskuil, which was based on figures at the Meertens Institute, where Voskuil worked as well.^[2]

Blok was born in Oegstgeest.^[1] He studied Medieval history at the University of Amsterdam, where he obtained a degree in 1953. In 1960 he earned his doctorate cum laude at the same university under J.F. Niermeyer with a thesis titled Een diplomatisch onderzoek van de oudste particuliere oorkonden van Werden.^[4] Blok had a long teaching career at the University of Amsterdam on the topic of settlement history related to the onomastics of place names, first a teaching assignment from 1967 to 1976, and subsequently as extraordinary lector (1976–1980), extraordinary professor (1980–1986) and finally as full professor from 1986 to 1990, when he took up emeritus status.^[4] He died on 6 February 2019, aged 94.^[5][6]

Blok was elected a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1984.^[7]