Ballard (surname)

Ballard is a surname of English origin. It likely derives from Middle English "ball," meaning "white spot," plus the suffix "-ard," and would therefore mean "bald head." Indeed, Wyclif translated 2 Kings 2:23 as "Stye up, ballard," where Coverdale translated the same passage as "Come up here thou balde head."

There are other sources for this name, besides the Anglo-Saxon. Not all people bearing the name are of English origins. It is common, with native etymology among several Celtic nations, although the British Celtic form is likely the original, and it may be that "Bald head" is a false etymology designed to give the name English roots. The earliest form is Ap Alard, meaning the "son of the fox" in Welsh, and it passed from Wales to Brittany as Aballard, whence it became popular in France under the form Aballaird, and thence to Spain.

People with the surname Ballard

Arts, music, and writing

Military and politics

Science and medicine

Sports

Other

  • Adolphus Ballard (1867–1915), English historian
  • Harold Ballard (1903–90), Canadian businessman
  • John Ballard (died 1586), English Jesuit priest
  • M. Russell Ballard (born 1928), American businessman and Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  • Melvin J. Ballard (1873–1939), American Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  • William Rankin Ballard (1847–1929), American banker and land developer
  • Ernest Jackson Ballard, Jr. (1920-2013), American electrical engineer and manager of electric power cooperatives in the western US
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