Ballard
A variant of the name Bernard meaning "brave as a bear".
Name Census estimates that about 329 living Americans carry the first name Ballard. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ballard today is around 73 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ballard births was 1922 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ballard. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Ballard is about 73 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Ballards were born before 1963.
People living today
329
~ 1 in 1,041,806 Americans
Peak year
1922
40 babies that year
Average age
73
years old
2001 SSA rank
#9,368
Tracked since 1880
Census
Ballard in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 468 people with the first name Ballard, which placed it at #21,612 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#21,612
National first-name rank
People counted
468
468 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ballard
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ballard is White at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Black (9.4%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ballard described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ballard at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.2% · 394
- Black or African American9.4% · 44
- Two or more races2.4% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 4
Popularity
Ballard: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ballard from the 1880s through to the 2000s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 257 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ballard by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ballard during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ballards live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia recorded the most babies named Ballard, while West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 117 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ballard
The given name Ballard has its origins in the Old French language, derived from the word "bailliard," which means "bailiff" or "steward." The name can be traced back to the Middle Ages, specifically to the 12th and 13th centuries.
During this period, the term "bailliard" referred to a person who held a position of authority and responsibility, often managing estates or overseeing administrative tasks on behalf of a lord or nobleman. The name Ballard likely emerged as a surname for individuals who held such roles, and over time, it transitioned into a given name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ballard can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership and taxation in England completed in 1086 under the reign of William the Conqueror. This document mentions individuals with the surname Bailliard, which later evolved into the spelling Ballard.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Ballard. One of the most famous was Ballard Berkeley (1904-1988), an English actor known for his roles in films such as The Ruling Class and Gandhi. Another noteworthy figure was Ballard F. Smith (1924-1994), an American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded the Irvine Company, a major real estate development firm in California.
In the world of literature, Ballard was the name of a character in the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville (1819-1891). Ballard was a member of the crew aboard the whaling ship Pequod, and his name has become associated with the themes of adventure and exploration that permeate the novel.
Ballard Spahr (1886-1960) was an influential American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1951 to 1957. He was known for his efforts to promote civil rights and his support for the establishment of the United Nations.
Another notable figure was Ballard Burgess (1892-1973), an American actor and singer who appeared in numerous Broadway musicals and Hollywood films during the 1920s and 1930s. He is particularly remembered for his roles in the Marx Brothers' movies Animal Crackers and A Night at the Opera.
These examples illustrate the diverse backgrounds and accomplishments of individuals who have carried the name Ballard throughout history, reflecting its enduring presence and significance across various cultures and contexts.
People
Ballard + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ballard as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ballard: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ballard?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 329 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ballard going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,041,806 US residents.
Is Ballard a common name?
We classify Ballard as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,153 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ballard most popular?
The single biggest year for Ballard was 1922, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ballard is about 73 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ballard in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 468 people with the name Ballard, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,612 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ballard in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ballard?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ballard leans strongly male. 445 people counted with this name were male (94.9%), compared with 24 female bearers (5.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ballard?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ballard is White at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Black (9.4%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ballard most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ballard in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.2% (394 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ballard in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ballard a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ballard in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ballard still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ballard in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ballard can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Ballard?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.