Ballou History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
France

Etymology of Ballou

What does the name Ballou mean?

The Ballou name comes from that Medieval landscape of northwestern France known as Brittany. The name Ballou was originally derived from the family having lived in Brittany, where this distinguished family was established from ancient times.

Early Origins of the Ballou family

The surname Ballou was first found in Brittany, where this distinguished family was established from ancient times.

Early History of the Ballou family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ballou research. Another 128 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1397, 1701, 1711, 1732, 1777, 1834 and 1893 are included under the topic Early Ballou History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ballou Spelling Variations

Changes of spelling have occurred in most surnames. The earliest explanation is that during the early development of the French language, names were not yet fixed in spelling. Usually a person gave his version of his name, phonetically, to a scribe, a priest, or a recorder. This depended on accent, and local accents frequently changed the spelling of a name. Some variables were adopted by different branches of the family name. Hence, there are some spelling variations of the name Ballou, including Bal, Balle, Ball, Balard, Balart, Baland, Balland, Balet, Ballet, Ballot, Balot, Ballon, Balon, Ballou and many more.

Early Notables of the Ballou family

Another 48 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Ballou Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ballou Ranking

In the United States, the name Ballou is the 4,837^th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 1

Ballou migration to the United States +

French settlers came early to North American, following in the wake of the explorers, and creating New France. Quebec City, founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain is said to have been the first American site founded as a permanent settlement, rather than as just a commercial outpost. But emigration was slow, in 1643, 109 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 French people in Quebec, and by 1663, when the region was officially made The Royal Colony of New France, by Louis XIV, there still only around 500 settlers. Over 2,000 would arrive during the next decade. Early marriage was desperately encouraged amongst the immigrants. Youths of 18 took fourteen-year-old girls for their wives. The fur trade was developed and attracted immigrants, both noble and commoner from France. By 1675, there were around 7000 French in the colony, and by that same year the Acadian presence in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island had reached 500. In 1755, 10,000 French Acadians refused to take an oath of allegiance to England and were deported to Louisiana. Despite the loss of the Colony to England, the French people flourished in Lower Canada. Among settlers to North America of the Ballou surname were

Ballou Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Maturin Ballou, who arrived in Providence, Rhode Island in 1639 2
William Ballou, who landed in Providence, Rhode Island in 1644 2
Mathurin Ballou, who landed in Providence, Rhode Island in 1645 2

Ballou Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Joseph Ballou, who arrived in Massachusetts in 1750 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Ballou (post 1700) +

Noble Winfred Ballou (1897-1963), American Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1925 to 1929
Tyson Brett Ballou (b. 1976), American model
Mikell Randolph "Mike" Ballou (b. 1947), American NFL linebacker who played for the Boston Patriots in 1970
Sullivan Ballou (1829-1861), American lawyer, politician and officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War
Maturin Murray Ballou (1820-1895), American writer and publisher, co-founder of Gleason's Pictorial, was the first editor of the Boston Daily Globe
Mary Ballou (1809-1904), American memoirist
Latimer Whipple Ballou (1812-1900), American politician, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Rhode Island (1875-1881)
Hosea Ballou II (1796-1861), American Universalist minister, the 1st President of Tufts University from 1853 to 1861
Esther Williamson Ballou (1915-1973), American music educator, organist and composer
Emily Ballou, American multiple award winning poet, novelist and screenwriter
... (Another 19 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)