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

Ballon, 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 Ballon surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ballon in America

Ballon is the 32079th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ballon surname appeared 719 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Ballon.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ballon 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 Ballon

The surname Ballon originated from the French region of Normandy in the early Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old French word "balon," meaning "ball" or "sphere," which may have been a descriptive nickname for someone with a round or plump physique.

Records show that the Ballon name first appeared in the 11th century in the Normandy region of northern France. One of the earliest known references to the name is found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a census survey commissioned by William the Conqueror after the Norman conquest of England.

The Ballon family established roots in various parts of Normandy, including the towns of Caen and Rouen. During the 12th and 13th centuries, several members of the Ballon family held positions of prominence in the local nobility and clergy.

One notable individual bearing the Ballon surname was Geoffroy Ballon, a Norman knight who fought alongside Richard the Lionheart during the Third Crusade in the late 12th century. Another notable figure was Robert Ballon, a merchant from Rouen who was active in the international wool trade during the 14th century.

In the 15th century, a branch of the Ballon family migrated to the neighboring region of Brittany, where they established themselves as landowners and professionals. One prominent member of this branch was Guillaume Ballon (1450-1518), a respected jurist and legal scholar who served as a magistrate in the Breton parliament.

As the Ballon name spread across France and eventually to other parts of Europe, variations in spelling emerged, such as Ballon, Baloun, and Balon. In England, the name was sometimes anglicized as Balloon or Balloon.

Among other notable individuals with the Ballon surname throughout history were Jean-Jacques Ballon (1675-1744), a French painter known for his portraits and religious works, and Étienne Ballon (1785-1856), a French military officer who served under Napoleon and later became a member of the Chamber of Deputies.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ballon

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

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 Ballon 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 Ballon 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 Ballon was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Ballon, 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!