How common is the surname Ball?

66,059 people in the United States had the surname Ball in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 4,674 Americans. It ranked 508th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Ball?

Lucille Ball, American actress (1911–1989), followed by Alice Augusta Ball.

Where is the surname Ball most common?

Wikidata records people named Ball in the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Canada and 2 other countries.

Is the surname Ball getting more or less common?

Less common. 77,561 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 66,059 in 2010, down 15%.

The surname Ball

A place surname, carried by 66,059 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex B400

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Ball is more common than 99.7% of them.

Origin

Multiple theories and origins. * From a short form of the Middle English given name Baldwin. * A toponymic surname for a person that lives near a knoll or rounded hill (i.e. somewhere shaped like a ball). * From the Old Norse given name Balle. * A habitational surname for a person from Ball, Cornwall, from Cornish Pelen.

Ball is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 66,059 people named Ball in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 4,674 Americans. That is down 15% since 2000, when the Census counted 77,561.

#508

rank among US surnames

66,059

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

-14.8%

change since 2000 (was #366)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#499	Frank	67,304	4,587
#500	Harrington	66,959	4,611
#501	Glover	66,858	4,618
#502	Osborne	66,827	4,620
#503	Buchanan	66,648	4,632
#504	Casey	66,556	4,639
#505	Floyd	66,454	4,646

Who is named Ball

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

82% of people named Ball identified as white (not Hispanic), 12% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 82%
Black (not Hispanic) 12%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
Two or more races 1.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.0%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Balls

32 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Lucille Ball
American actress (1911–1989)
Alice Augusta Ball
African American chemist (1892–1916)
Alan Ball
American screenwriter, born 1957
Wes Ball
American film director, born 1980
Lloy Ball
American volleyball player, born 1972
Albert Ball
British aviator killed in WWI, 1896–1917
Marcia Ball
American blues singer and pianist, born 1949
Jimmy Ball
Athletics competitor (1903–1988)
Carsten Ball
Australian tennis player, born 1987
George Ball
American diplomat (1909-1994)
Bobby Ball
American racecar driver (1925-1954)
Catie Ball
American swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, former world record-holder, college swimming coac, born 1951

Notable Balls come mostly from the United States (28), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1) and Canada (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Ball

Ball has the Soundex code B400, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code B400.

Questions

Where does the surname Ball come from?: Multiple theories and origins. * From a short form of the Middle English given name Baldwin. * A toponymic surname for a person that lives near a knoll or rounded hill (i.e. somewhere shaped like a ball). * From the Old Norse given name Balle. * A habitational surname for a person from Ball,…
How common is the surname Ball?: 66,059 people in the United States had the surname Ball in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 4,674 Americans. It ranked 508th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Ball?: In the 2010 Census, 82% of people named Ball identified as white (not Hispanic), and 12% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Ball?: Lucille Ball, American actress (1911–1989), followed by Alice Augusta Ball.
Where is the surname Ball most common?: Wikidata records people named Ball in the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Canada and 2 other countries.
What type of surname is Ball?: Ball is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Ball getting more or less common?: Less common. 77,561 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 66,059 in 2010, down 15%.