Ball is an English surname that has multiple potential origins, as do many short surnames:

According to Bowman, Ball and related names had only "limited application as personal names and that generally they have come into existence as nicknames."[1]

List of people with the surname

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Arts and music

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see Writing and education below for writers

Business

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  • The Ball brothers (Lucius, William, Edmund, Frank, and George), 19th-century American industrialists and philanthropists
  • Decimus Alfred Ball (1836–1890), British slumlord
  • Edward Ball (businessman) (1888–1981), American businessman and political figure
  • Ernie Ball (1930–2004), American entrepreneur, musician, and guitar innovator
  • Harvey Ball (1921–2001), American entrepreneur; earliest known designer of the Smiley

Media

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  • Dave Ball, Survivor: Samoa competitor
  • Johnny Ball (born 1938), English children's television presenter
  • Krystal Ball (born 1981), American political pundit, co-host of Breaking Points Krystal & Saagar
  • Molly Ball, American political journalist and writer

Military

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  • Albert Ball (1896–1917), English World War I fighter pilot; recipient of the Victoria Cross
  • Alexander Ball (c. 1756–1809), English admiral of the Royal Navy and Governor of Malta
  • Henry Lidgbird Ball (1756–1818), British Royal Navy officer who discovered and explored Lord Howe Island
  • William L. Ball III (born 1948), United States Secretary of the Navy

Politics, law, and diplomacy

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Religion

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Sciences and mathematics

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Sports

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Writing and education

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Other

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b Bowman, William Dodgson (2012) [1932]. "Chapter IV: Patronymics". The Story of Surnames and Genealogy (Republication). Read Books Limited. Baldwin. ISBN 9781447487357 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ a b c "Last Name: Ball", Internet Surname Database, Name Origin Research, retrieved 21 Dec 2011
  3. ^ Heck, Earl L. W. (1928). Colonel William Ball of Virginia, the Great-Grandfather of Washington. London – via Google Books. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Seary, E; Kirwin, William; Lynch Sheila MP (1998), Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, p. 20, ISBN 9780773517820 – via Google Books

Further reading

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  • Ball, David G. (ed.). The New England Ball Project. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  • Roach, Cheryl Capps (2010). "Chapter 13". Searching For My Grandfathers: From the North Seas To The Oklahoma Oil Pools (Google Books). Limited Edition. Retrieved 21 December 2011.