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Ball Family History

Ball Name 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 ).7: 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

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Hint: Try searching for a relative alive in 1940.

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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 1891 there were 4,865 Ball families living in Lancashire. This was about 18% of all the recorded Ball's in United Kingdom. Lancashire had the highest population of Ball families in 1891.
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.
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What did your Ball ancestors do for a living?

In 1939, General Labourer and Unpaid Domestic Duties were the top reported jobs for men and women in the United Kingdom named Ball. 6% of Ball men worked as a General Labourer and 65% of Ball women worked as an Unpaid Domestic Duties. Some less common occupations for Americans named Ball were Incapacitated and Incapacitated. .

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.

Top Male Occupations In 1939

  • General Labourer
    6%
  • Builders Labourer
    3%
  • Bricklayer
    2%
  • Incapacitated
    2%

Top Female Occupations In 1939

  • Unpaid Domestic Duties
    65%
  • Unpaid Domestic
    3%
  • Housewife
    2%
  • Incapacitated
    2%
Black & white image of two construction labourers

What Ball family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 880,000 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 UK census records for Ball

Passenger Lists

There are 74,000 immigration records available for the last name Ball. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the UK, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

View all Ball immigration records

Draft Cards

There are 170,000 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.

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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.

View Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Ball

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