Find out how popular the last name Ballentine is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Ballentine.

Ballentine, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Ballentine surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ballentine in America

Ballentine is the 7739th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ballentine surname appeared 4,289 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Ballentine.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ballentine to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Ballentine

The surname Ballentine originated in Scotland, where it first appeared in the 13th century. It is derived from the Gaelic words "baile" meaning "town" and "teine" meaning "fire," suggesting that the name may have referred to someone who lived in a town where beacon fires were lit.

In the 14th century, the name was recorded as "Ballenteyne" in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland. This early spelling indicates that the name likely evolved from a place name associated with a specific town or village.

One of the earliest known records of the name Ballentine is found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which documented individuals who swore fealty to King Edward I of England during his conquest of Scotland. The name "John de Ballyntyne" appears in this historical document.

During the 16th century, the Ballentine surname began to spread throughout Scotland, particularly in the regions of Lanarkshire and Ayrshire. In 1538, a record shows a "William Ballentyne" who was a burgess (a respected citizen) in the town of Irvine, Ayrshire.

Notable individuals with the surname Ballentine include:

1. George Ballentine (1776-1853), a Scottish merchant and philanthropist who co-founded the Glasgow Asylum for the Blind.
2. Robert Ballentine (1825-1899), a Scottish-born engineer and architect who designed many buildings in Sydney, Australia, including the Sydney Mint.
3. Frances Ballentine (1867-1942), a Scottish-American author and journalist known for her works on Scottish history and culture.
4. James Ballentine (1892-1965), an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Illinois from 1937 to 1947.
5. Marianne Ballentine (1948-present), an American politician and member of the South Carolina House of Representatives since 2005.

Throughout its history, the Ballentine surname has been spelled in various ways, such as Ballantyne, Ballenden, and Ballentine, reflecting regional variations and evolving spellings over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ballentine

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Ballentine.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Ballentine was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Ballentine has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Ballentine was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Ballentine, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!