Show ContentsBallaam History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Ballaam is of Anglo-Saxon origin and came from when a family lived in Suffolk, where they held a family seat in the village of Baylham, from which they took their name.

Early Origins of the Ballaam family

The surname Ballaam was first found in Suffolk, in the village and civil parish of Baylham. The village dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086 when it was first listed as Beleham and probably meant "homestead or enclosure at a river-bend" from the Old English words "begel" + "ham" or "hamm." 1

The parish, in the union and hundred of Bosmere and Claydon, East division of Suffolk, 3 miles from Needham-Market was small but contained about 275 inhabitants in the late 1890s. 2

Early History of the Ballaam family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ballaam research. Another 287 words (20 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1212, 1275, 1500, 1568, 1577, 1600, 1635, 1642, 1684 and 1830 are included under the topic Early Ballaam History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ballaam Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Ballaam family name include Baalham, Balan, Baylham, Balum, Balam, Ballam, Balaam and many more.

Early Notables of the Ballaam family

More information is included under the topic Early Ballaam Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ireland Migration of the Ballaam family to Ireland

Some of the Ballaam family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Ballaam family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Ballaam surname or a spelling variation of the name include : Charles Baalam who sailed to New England in 1656. Charles Balam arrived in Barbados in 1679 and William Balam sailed to Philadelphia in 1856.



  1. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
  2. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.


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