Ball Family History

Ball Surname Meaning

English: from Middle English bal ball(e) ‘ball sphere globe round body’ (Old French balle or Old English beall(a)) a nickname for a short obese person. English: topographic name for someone who lived on or by a knoll or rounded hill from the same Middle English word bal(le) as in 1 above but applied topographically.

English: from a Middle English adjective ball (weak form balle) in the sense ‘bald’ from ball ‘white streak bald place’. English: from Balle an Old Norse personal name found in placenames in England.

The Scandinavian name may be for ballr ‘dangerous’ in an older sense of ‘brave’ or bǫllr ‘ball’. South German: from Middle High German bal ‘ball’ possibly applied as a metonymic occupational name for a juggler or a habitational name from a place so named in the Rhine area.

German: from a short form of any of various ancient Germanic personal names formed with the element bald (see Bald).

Americanized form of Dutch Bal.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022

Similar surnames: Bell, Wall, Bald, Hall, Fall, Bill, Balle, Boll, Bahl, Call

1M	Birth, Marriage, and Deaths
170K	Military Records
74K	Immigration Records
880K	Census and Voter Lists
3M	Member Trees

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Where is the Ball family from?

You can see how Ball families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Ball family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Ball families were found in United Kingdom in 1891. In 1911 there were 1,712 Ball families living in Ontario. This was about 59% of all the recorded Ball's in Canada. Ontario had the highest population of Ball families in 1911.

Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Ball surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.

View Census Data for Ball

What did your Ball ancestors do for a living?

In 1921, Farmer and Income were the top reported jobs for men and women in the Canada named Ball. 32% of Ball men worked as a Farmer and 11% of Ball women worked as an Income. Some less common occupations for Americans named Ball were Carpenter and Housekeeper.

View Census Data for Ball

Data not to scale

We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Farmer

32%

Labourer

10%

Laborer

Carpenter

Income

11%

Stenographer

Nurse

Housekeeper

What Ball family records will you find?

Census Record

There are 880K census records available for the last name Ball. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Ball census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search Canadian census records for Ball

Passenger List

There are 74K immigration records available for the last name Ball. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in Canada, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

View all Ball immigration records

Military Records

There are 170K military records available for the last name Ball. For the veterans among your Ball ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

View all Ball military records

You've only scratched the surface of Ball family history

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What is the average Ball lifespan?

Between 1941 and 2004, in the United States, Ball life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1943, and highest in 2004. The average life expectancy for Ball in 1941 was 33, and 75 in 2004.

Discover the unique achievements of ancestors in the Ball family tree

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Ball Surname Meaning

German: from a short form of any of various ancient Germanic personal names formed with the element bald (see Bald).

Americanized form of Dutch Bal.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022

Where is the Ball family from?

What did your Ball ancestors do for a living?

Data not to scale

We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Farmer

32%

Labourer

10%

Laborer

Carpenter

Income

11%

Stenographer

Nurse

Housekeeper

What Ball family records will you find?

What is the average Ball lifespan?

Between 1941 and 2004, in the United States, Ball life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1943, and highest in 2004. The average life expectancy for Ball in 1941 was 33, and 75 in 2004.

Ball Family History

Ball Surname Meaning

5 million record(s) for Ball

Search for a relative to learn more about your family history.

Where is the Ball family from?

What did your Ball ancestors do for a living?

Top Male Occupations In 1921

Top Female Occupations In 1921

What Ball family records will you find?

Census Record

Passenger List

Military Records

You've only scratched the surface of Ball family history

What is the average Ball lifespan?

Discover the unique achievements of ancestors in the Ball family tree

Search for another surname

Ball Surname Meaning

5 million record(s) for Ball

Search for a relative to learn more about your family history.

Where is the Ball family from?

What did your Ball ancestors do for a living?

Top Male Occupations In 1921

Top Female Occupations In 1921

What Ball family records will you find?

Census Record

Passenger List

Military Records

You've only scratched the surface of Ball family history

What is the average Ball lifespan?

Discover the unique achievements of ancestors in the Ball family tree

Search for another surname