BALLARD NAME MEANING

The earliest reference to the Ballard surname that I have uncovered can be found in "Bardsley" Book, "Dictionary of English and Welsh surnames", which can be located at any main central reference library. Its contents are as follows,

" BALLARD nickname meaning Bold Headed, the hair or absents of it gave rise to a large number of early nicknames the majority of which still survive as surnames today. Professor Sceat quotes "and scorneden to hym saying stye up balvheard" a passage extract from the Holy Bible ( II book of Kings, verse 23 ) referring to the story of Elisha and Elija in which Elisha is scorned by a group of men, with reference to his obvious Bold appearance ". (i)

It would seems that other surnames currently in popular use today have very close transitional meanings to the surname Ballard such as Ball and Baldwin. There are several different versions or spellings of the name Ballard, for example, Ballarde , Ballardi, Ballerd, Balvheard, Bollard, Bollerd, Bellard and Bullard, the later, I am led to believe, having some close relationship to the family of Scottish Kings, Baliol.

I have further found literature linking the name to the Germanic races, also there are a great many references to similarly spelt versions of the name in the Basque regions, such as Baillard, of Vivarais and Combaux. Ballard has also been found in France during the16th century.

Ballarde, seems to have been the most common spelt form of this surname in England during the middle ages, illustrated in many Mediaeval documents, consequently the "e" was dropped and we were left with the modern day representation in Ballard, but the most interesting revelation of the origin of the Ballard name comes from English Crown documents from the 13th Century that have been published to Paul Ballard's Web Site, that relate to trade with English Royalty namely several Ballard's, John, Vannus and Caluchus, of The Society of Ballardi, Merchants of Lucca. (province in Italy near Florence). (ii)

The Ballard name is probably derived from the Society of Ballardi. This was but one of a number of societies or companies of Lombard merchants who, not infrequently, added to their mercantile pursuits that of moneylenders and bankers. In the 13th and 14th centuries their activities rivalled that of the Barings and the Rothchilds of modern times. (iii)

refs..

(i) "Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames" Bardsley Book.

(ii) Paul Ballard's Web Site.

(iii) Mike Gallefent, Medieval Historian.