Male Family Names

Ball is an American family name that originates from the word, "bal" that refers to "hill top". Bal is a Cornish-Welsh word and the Ball surname was probably used by Ball ancestors who lived about a rounded hill. The Gaelic meaning of bal that originates from the word "baile" is village or a castle. In addition, bal as a Middle-English word is a description of a bald person. But some people say that Ball is a short-cut of Baldwin.

Ball started at Tussingham and years after the Ball family line arose in Stafford, Chester, Derby, Devon, Lancashire, and Lincoln. However, there was a name of Godwin Balle in London in 1137. In 1183, Norman Balle lived in Northampton. The name Ball was also recorded in Virginia during 1600's. William Ball brought a famous vellum painting to Virginia where authorities found the popular coat of arms in 1680. Francis Ball came from the land of England all the way to Massachusettes in the year 1639. In 1643, Allen Ball was in Connecticut. You may ask what those things are all about. Well, I was just trying to point out that the family name Ball has reached different parts of the globe over the years.

Surnames are important for every lineage's identity, that is, for history. But, for the government a surname is important because it helps in organizing the people of a country. Some people are curious why women are required to use male surnames. Well, this is how the world goes. We all have to deal with it. On the other hand, I'm not really sure how our ancestors chose our corresponding surname, and it would be interesting to discover it. Meanwhile, I still have to research on that.

Garfield is Jim Davis' belligerent feline character who loves lasagna more than he loves his master (or slave) Jon Arbuckle. If you're a cartoon lover like me, you'll definitely think that Mr. Davis has lost his marbles for creating such a wild-mannered cat. Anyway, I'm not writing about Garfield here. I'm more interested with creator's family name than the critter. Davis is a wildly-known family in the United States.

Jim Robert Davis is a popular cartoonist who created the world's most beloved comic strip about the lazy cat, funny dog, and their mild-tempered master. Davis is a family name derived from the first name David which means "beloved". I'm not sure if there are people who are born with Davis as their first name. But I'm sure there are lots of men and women born with that family name.

Most guys borne with the family name Davis love the music and arts. Sir Colin Rex Davis is an English conductor and premier interpreter of the Hector Berlioz. He first became an assistant conductor of the BBC Scottish Orchestra before he became a world-renowned musical genius. Ossie Davis is a popular actor, director, and social activist who delivered the eulogy at Malcolm X's funeral and repeated it for the movie Malcolm X.

Harvey is a fine name that can be used as a first name, nickname, or family name. I was interested in this name because my next-door neighbor's name is Harvey Harvey. Yeah, his first name and his last names are the same. That's why I always call him, Harvey to the second power. He thinks it's cute, really.

Anyway, Harvey is actually a family name that originated from the British Haerviu that means "battle worthy". And whether you like it or not, we got awesome guys in history that bear the name as their first and last. Harvey Milk is an American political leader who served in the U.S. Navy, but was discharged because of his homosexuality.

He then led San Francisco's gay community and became the first gay supervisor in the city. Harvey Pitt is the chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during 2002 and became the subject of devastating criticisms because of his alleged lax in enforcing SEC rules. I remember we have an Xbox game character with the name Harvey, I just can't remember the title of the game he's in. Anyway, William Harvey, the great English physician discovered the real nature of the circulation of the blood and the heart's function as a pump.

A name is used to identify person but sometimes two or more persons have the same name that is why surnames were developed. The surname of a person differentiates him from the persons whose names are like him. There are two classifications of surname. First is the "patronymic," which came from either of the parents' name, but generally the first name of the person's father is the one taken by the child. An example of this is Johnson, which entails, "son of John." This is a combination of the name John who is the father and the word son. If his father is named Henry and the son is named Martin, then the child's whole name will be Martin Henry. The second classification of surname is toponymic and locative.

The surname of an individual is based on the place where he lives. In this classification, the person adds a preposition to the place's name and takes it as his surname. But there are cases wherein some people directly use the place's name, such as Linton, York and London. Meanwhile on toponymic, the surname is taken from other features of a certain place. For example if the man lives near a certain hill, he adds preposition to form his surname. Wherever the surnames came from, they are sure meaningful and worthy. Today everyone takes paternal surnames.

A popular christmas carol might have you thinking that the name Noel has it's roots in the Bible. Although the given name Noel may have Christian references, that is not always the case. In fact, it is believed that the name Noel originated in the Gallic tribes of Normandy in France.

The surname Noel may have meant "a person from Noailles (no-ay)". The Noel family name underwent changes though the ages - sons writting their family names differently. Though the name has seens changes from Noell to De Noilles to Noel, the origin and meaning is still the same. Several members of this family were important in the culture and politics of France and New France.