Ballet History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
France

Early Origins of the Ballet family

The surname Ballet was first found in Suffolk where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, Duke William, commissioned a census of all England to determine in 1086, settling once and for all, who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, 1 indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands of Coddenham, held by Ralph de Limesy, a Norman Baron who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086.

Early History of the Ballet family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ballet research. Another 135 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1510, 1542, 1560 and 1600 are included under the topic Early Ballet History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ballet Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Ballet, Ballett, Ballette, Bailet, Baillet, Baillett and many more.

Early Notables of the Ballet family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

the Ballet family of Suffolk

Ballet Ranking

In France, the name Ballet is the 1,078^th most popular surname with an estimated 4,997 people with that name. 2

Ballet migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Ballet or a variant listed above were:

Ballet Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Jeanne Ballet, who landed in New York in 1692 3

Ballet Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Amedee Gaston Ballet, aged 21, who arrived in Louisiana in 1719 3
Paul Ballet, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1759 3

Ballet Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Richard Ballet, who was naturalized in Pennsylvania in 1842
Ana Ballet, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1860 3
Thomas Ballet, who was on record in Philadelphia in 1872

Contemporary Notables of the name Ballet (post 1700) +

René Ballet (1928-2017), French journalist, novelist and essayist

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)