Show ContentsBallantyne History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Etymology of Ballantyne

What does the name Ballantyne mean?

The ancestors of the Ballantyne family lived among the Strathclyde-Briton people of the Scottish/English Borderlands. Ballantyne is a name for someone who lived in Roxburghshire, where the family was found since the early Middle Ages. One source claims the name was of local origin and denoted "a place of ancient pagan worship among the Celts, whose principal deity was Belen or Baal, the sun. To the honor of this deity, the Celts lighted fires on the 1st of May and Midsummer day. Baalantine signifies 'the fire of Baal,' from Baden and teine, Gaelic, fire. " 1 2

Early Origins of the Ballantyne family

The surname Ballantyne was first found in Roxburghshire "probably from the lands of Bellenden in the parish of Roberton. There is also a Ballinton, Ballintoun or Ballintome mentioned in Stirling Retours. " 3 4

"This Scottish name has undergone remarkable changes. 'Sir Richard of Bannochtine of the Corhous,' who flourished c. 1460, sometimes wrote himself Bannachty, and his son is called Sir John Bannatyne. This spelling continued till temp. Charles. II., when the proprietor of Corhouse was called indifferently John Bannatyne and Johne Ballentyne, and his son is described as the son of John Ballenden. In fact, down to a recent period, the forms Bannatyne and Ballantyne have been used indifferently by brothers of one house, and even by the same individual at different times. " 5

Early History of the Ballantyne family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ballantyne research. Another 109 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1153, 1460, 1545, 1553, 1563, 1577, 1591, 1605, 1608, 1616, 1630, 1642, 1661, 1671, 1680, 1800 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Ballantyne History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ballantyne Spelling Variations

Spelling and translation were hardly exact sciences in Medieval Scotland. Sound, rather than any set of rules, was the basis for spellings, so one name was often spelled different ways even within a single document. Spelling variations are thus an extremely common occurrence in Medieval Scottish names. Ballantyne has been spelled Ballentine, Ballantyne, Ballantine, Ballentyne, Bannentyne, Bannantyne, Ballanden, Ballanden, Ballendine, Ballendyne, Ballentine and many more.

Early Notables of the Ballantyne family

Notable amongst the family at this time was

  • George Bannatyne (1545-1608), collector of Scottish poems, eponym of the Bannatyne Club in Edinburgh, he was the seventh of the twenty-three children of James Bannatyne of Kirktown of Newtyle in Forfa...

Ballantyne Ranking

In the United States, the name Ballantyne is the 17,893rd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 6 However, in New Zealand, the name Ballantyne is ranked the 836th most popular surname with an estimated 870 people with that name. 7

Migration of the Ballantyne family to Ireland

Some of the Ballantyne family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 57 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


Ballantyne migration to the United States +

Such hard times forced many to leave their homeland in search of opportunity across the Atlantic. Many of these families settled along the east coast of North America in communities that would become the backbones of the young nations of the United States and Canada. The ancestors of many of these families have rediscovered their roots in the 20th century through the establishment of Clan societies and other patriotic Scottish organizations. Among them:

Ballantyne Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • William Ballantyne, who landed in America in 1775 8
Ballantyne Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Robert Ballantyne, who arrived in Albany, NY in 1829 8
  • John Ballantyne, a poor farm worker who lived in Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, Scotland with his wife Janet and nine children chartered a sailing vessel, the “Tierien”, that brought them to America, landing at New Orleans on October 9, 1841.

Ballantyne migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Ballantyne Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century
  • David Ballantyne, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1773
Ballantyne Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century
  • David Ballantyne, who arrived in Canada in 1820

Ballantyne migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Ballantyne Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
  • Mr. John Ballantyne, Scottish convict who was convicted in Glasgow, Scotland for 14 years, transported aboard the "Eliza" on 22nd September 1819, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 9
  • Mr. John Ballantyne (Ballantine), Scottish convict who was convicted in Glasgow, Scotland for 14 years for burglary, transported aboard the "Henry Tanner" on 27th June 1834, settling in New South Wales, Australia, he died in 1898 10
  • Mr. Thomas Ballantyne, (b. 1832), aged 16, Scottish carter who was convicted in Perth, Scotland for 7 years for assault, transported aboard the "Bangalore" on 1st January 1850, arriving in Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia 11
  • Miss Elizabeth Ballantyne who was convicted in Glasgow, Scotland for 10 years, transported aboard the "Emma Eugenia" on 25th October 1850, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 12
  • Archibald Ballantyne, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Blundell" in 1851 13
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Ballantyne migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Ballantyne Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • Mr. William Ballantyne, Scottish settler travelling from Glasgow aboard the ship "Sevilla" arriving in Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 2nd December 1859 14
  • Mrs. Ballantyne, Scottish settler travelling from Glasgow aboard the ship "Sevilla" arriving in Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 2nd December 1859 14
  • Miss Elizabeth Ballantyne, (b. 1857), aged 2, Scottish settler travelling from Glasgow aboard the ship "Sevilla" arriving in Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 2nd December 1859, died on board 18th November 1859 14
  • Mr. John Ballantyne, (b. 1854), aged 23, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "James Nicol Fleming" arriving in Port Chalmers, Otago, New Zealand on 3rd October 1877, en-route to Invercargill, South Island, New Zealand 15
  • Mr. James Ballantyne, (b. 1839), aged 40, Scottish shepherd, from Rosshire travelling from Clyde aboard the ship "Nelson" arriving in Invercargill, Southland, South Island, New Zealand on 28th August 1879 15
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Ballantyne (post 1700) +

  • Joyce Ballantyne (1918-2006), American painter of pin-up art, best known as the designer of the Coppertone girl, whose swimming costume is being pulled down by a dog
  • Walter Ballantyne, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Massachusetts, 1912 16
  • Suzy S. Ballantyne, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from New York, 2004, 2008 16
  • Peter Robert Ballantyne, American politician, Representative from California 52nd District, 1996 16
  • Madison Ballantyne (1881-1953), American Republican politician, Member of South Dakota State House of Representatives 46th District, 1937-38 16
  • Lewis B. Ballantyne, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from New Jersey, 1940 16
  • Doris Ballantyne, American politician, Socialist Labor Candidate for Lieutenant Governor of New York, 1966 16
  • John Ballantyne (1778-1830), Scottish minister of religion
  • James Ballantyne (1772-1833), Scottish editor and publisher who worked for Sir Walter Scott
  • Robert Michael "R. M." Ballantyne (1825-1894), Scottish children's author from Edinburgh
  • ... (Another 10 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

RMS Lusitania
  • Miss Margaret Ballantyne, American 3rd Class passenger from New York, New York, USA, who sailed aboard the RMS Lusitania (1915) and survived the sinking 17


The Ballantyne Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Neither swiftly nor slowly


  1. Arthur, William , An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. London: 1857. Print
  2. Sims, Clifford Stanley The Origin and Signification of Scottish Surnames. 1862. Print.
  3. Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
  4. Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
  5. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  6. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  7. "Most Common Last Names in New Zealand." Forebears, https://forebears.io/new-zealand/surnames
  8. 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)
  9. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 10th February 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/eliza
  10. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 7th January 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/henry-tanner
  11. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 11th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/australasia
  12. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 7th April 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/emma-eugenia
  13. State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) BLUNDELL 1851. Retrieved http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1851Blundell.htm
  14. New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
  15. New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
  16. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 14) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
  17. Lusitania Passenger List - The Lusitania Resource. (Retrieved 2014, March 7) . Retrieved from http://www.rmslusitania.info/lusitania-passenger-list/


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