Last name

Ball

English

The name 'Ball' originates from England. It is derived from the nickname for a short, fat person, from the Middle English word 'bal(le)' meaning ball (Old Norman 'bollr'). In some cases it may have refered to a bald man, from the same word used in the sense of a (round) hairless patch on the skull; in Modern English 'bald' is derived from the Middle Englih word 'ballede', from 'bal(le)' and 'ede'. I.e. 'having a balle'. It is also derived from the topographic name for someone who lived or worked by a knoll or rounded hill, from the same Middle English word 'ball(le)', and from the Old Norman personal name 'Balle', apparently derived from 'bal' meaning torture, pain. Variant´s: 'Balle', 'Bald', 'Baller'. Compiled information from Historical and Private archive's has confirmed that the surname 'Ball' and or it's variant's, dates as far back as the 13th century were a 'Custance Balde', from Cambridgeshire, England, is recorded on the Hundred Rolls in 1273. The exact period of settlement in North America has not been definately determined but Information extracted from Public and Civil registry archive's confirm that one of the first settlers was a certain 'Colonel William Ball', aged 35, Lord of the Manor, from Barkham, the County of Berkshire, England, emigrated to North America in 1650, ans settled on the east bank of the Corotonan, a branch of the Rappahannock River, in Lancaster County, Virginia. In 1663 he recieved a grant of 300 acres of land on Narrow Creek, and in 1667, 240 acres on the north side of the Rappahannock 'Ball' is the '314th' most common surname in North America.

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