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

Ballou, 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 Ballou surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ballou in America

Ballou is the 5936th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ballou surname appeared 5,800 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Ballou.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ballou 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 Ballou

The surname Ballou originated in France, specifically in the region of Normandy. It is believed to have derived from the Old French word "bailleul," which means "small town" or "village." This suggests that the name likely originated from a place name referring to a small settlement or locality.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ballou can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Bailliole," which was likely the spelling used at the time.

In the 13th century, records show that a family bearing the name Ballou resided in the town of Bailleul, located in the northern region of France near the Belgian border. It is possible that this town was the original place from which the name derived.

The earliest known person with the surname Ballou was Jehan de Bailleul, who lived in the late 12th century and was a prominent landowner in Normandy. Another notable figure was Robert de Bailleul, a Norman knight who fought alongside William the Conqueror during the Norman conquest of England in 1066.

In the 17th century, the Ballou family spread to other parts of Europe and eventually to the Americas. One of the earliest recorded Ballous in the American colonies was Mathurin Ballou, who was born in France around 1615 and immigrated to Rhode Island in the 1640s.

Other notable individuals with the surname Ballou throughout history include:

1. Hosea Ballou (1771-1852), an American Universalist minister and influential religious leader who helped establish the Universalist Church of America.

2. Maturin Murray Ballou (1820-1895), an American author, travel writer, and journalist who founded several publications, including Ballou's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion.

3. Adin Ballou (1803-1890), an American Christian anarchist, abolitionist, and advocate of non-resistance who founded the Utopian community of Hopedale in Massachusetts.

4. Benjamin Ballou (1767-1853), an American Revolutionary War soldier and early settler of Ohio.

5. William Hosea Ballou (1866-1942), an American lawyer and politician who served as the 34th Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island from 1917 to 1921.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ballou

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

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

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

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