Fun Facts About the Name Ballard
- More than 1 thousand babies named Ballard: U.S. records list 1,159 babies given the name Ballard from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Ballard Mean?
Ballard is an English family name, also used as a given name, and its usual explanation comes from Old French. It is most often described as a nickname for a bald man: Old French balle, "bald," combined with the suffix -ard, which often carried a slightly mocking or familiar tone. The resulting word, ballard, meant something like "bald-headed one."
A second explanation treats Ballard as an Old French personal name, Balard, a short or pet form of a Continental Germanic name built on the root bald-, "bold, brave." Because medieval nicknames and personal names often looked and sounded alike, it can be difficult to tell whether a particular family's name began as a description of a bald man or as an inherited personal name. Reference works sometimes list both derivations side by side rather than choosing one.
Ballard Name History & Origins
Ballard appears in England as a surname from the medieval period, carried by the Norman French vocabulary and naming customs that spread through England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Like most surnames of that era, it was written in many different ways in surviving records, since scribes spelled names as they heard them rather than by fixed rules. Over the later Middle Ages such bynames became hereditary, and Ballard settled into use as a family name in various parts of England.
As a first name, Ballard belongs to the large group of English surnames that were adopted as given names, a practice that became especially common in the United States. In that tradition the surname was simply transferred to the front position, usually for boys, without any change in form or meaning. Its use as a given name has remained uncommon rather than widespread.
The best-known modern bearer of the surname is the British novelist James Graham Ballard (1930 - 2009), whose work popularized the name as a literary association but did not give rise to the name itself.
How Popular is the Name Ballard?
Ballard recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 1922. Its best rank was #552 in 1889.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #10,854 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2001 | #9,368 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1997 | #7,358 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1986 | #5,996 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1976 | #4,472 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1972 | #5,052 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1971 | #3,996 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1970 | #4,782 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1969 | #4,460 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1967 | #3,591 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1966 | #3,560 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1965 | #2,796 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1964 | #4,084 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1963 | #4,083 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1962 | #2,379 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1961 | #4,109 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1960 | #2,048 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 1959 | #2,543 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1958 | #2,838 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1957 | #2,102 | 15 | 0.0007% |
| 1956 | #2,096 | 15 | 0.0007% |
| 1955 | #2,979 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1954 | #2,757 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1953 | #2,544 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1952 | #1,860 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1951 | #1,647 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 1950 | #2,032 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1949 | #1,758 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 1948 | #2,031 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1947 | #1,853 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1946 | #1,820 | 16 | 0.0010% |
| 1945 | #1,701 | 16 | 0.0012% |
| 1944 | #1,741 | 16 | 0.0012% |
| 1943 | #2,417 | 10 | 0.0007% |
| 1942 | #1,736 | 17 | 0.0012% |
| 1941 | #2,212 | 11 | 0.0009% |
| 1940 | #1,436 | 22 | 0.0019% |
| 1939 | #2,298 | 10 | 0.0009% |
| 1938 | #1,692 | 17 | 0.0015% |
| 1937 | #1,345 | 25 | 0.0023% |
| 1936 | #1,421 | 22 | 0.0021% |
| 1935 | #1,589 | 19 | 0.0018% |
| 1934 | #2,274 | 11 | 0.0011% |
| 1933 | #1,407 | 23 | 0.0023% |
| 1932 | #1,357 | 26 | 0.0025% |
| 1931 | #1,850 | 16 | 0.0015% |
| 1930 | #1,464 | 25 | 0.0023% |
| 1929 | #1,485 | 24 | 0.0022% |
| 1928 | #1,272 | 32 | 0.0029% |
| 1927 | #1,562 | 24 | 0.0021% |
| 1926 | #1,665 | 21 | 0.0019% |
| 1925 | #2,322 | 13 | 0.0012% |
| 1924 | #1,966 | 17 | 0.0015% |
| 1923 | #1,597 | 23 | 0.0021% |
| 1922 | #1,120 | 40 | 0.0037% |
| 1921 | #1,179 | 37 | 0.0034% |
| 1920 | #1,460 | 26 | 0.0024% |
| 1919 | #1,534 | 23 | 0.0023% |
| 1918 | #1,213 | 33 | 0.0033% |
| 1917 | #1,482 | 23 | 0.0025% |
| 1916 | #1,139 | 33 | 0.0037% |
| 1915 | #1,217 | 29 | 0.0034% |
| 1914 | #1,498 | 17 | 0.0026% |
| 1913 | #1,173 | 19 | 0.0037% |
| 1912 | #2,295 | 6 | 0.0014% |
| 1910 | #1,047 | 10 | 0.0051% |
| 1907 | #1,359 | 5 | 0.0034% |
| 1903 | #1,144 | 5 | 0.0042% |
| 1902 | #1,157 | 5 | 0.0041% |
| 1901 | #862 | 7 | 0.0066% |
| 1900 | #1,327 | 5 | 0.0033% |
| 1899 | #941 | 6 | 0.0056% |
| 1896 | #1,115 | 5 | 0.0042% |
| 1895 | #1,093 | 5 | 0.0043% |
| 1892 | #801 | 8 | 0.0066% |
| 1889 | #552 | 12 | 0.0109% |
| 1888 | #1,045 | 5 | 0.0041% |
| 1887 | #939 | 5 | 0.0049% |
| 1886 | #852 | 6 | 0.0054% |
| 1885 | #948 | 5 | 0.0046% |
| 1883 | #725 | 7 | 0.0067% |
| 1882 | #762 | 7 | 0.0062% |
| 1881 | #714 | 7 | 0.0069% |
| 1880 | #826 | 6 | 0.0054% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Ballard Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You can go to great heights and equally great depths. You are emotional and fixed in your opinions. You are hospitable, sentimental, often psychic, sometimes moody. You are ruled by love and the lack of it and feel a need to be encouraged and appreciated. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are seeking freedom, opportunities to enjoy life: to make love, to go places and to do things. You are very adventurous and willing to take risk to achieve your objectives. New ways and new experiences can't satisfy your restless nature. One adventure leads you to another. You are honest and fair, because you know that this is the only way to receive justice and honesty from other people. But your personal growth is vital for you, and it is difficult to be tied down by rules and obligations. Your restless spirit might best controlled by choosing the field of work that meet your demand for action and adventure.
✦ Ballard's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Ballard's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.