This unusual and interesting surname is of Scottish origin and is a locational name from the lands of Ballingal in the parish of Orwell, Kinross-shire. The derivation may be from the Old English pre 7th Century personal name "Baell", or the Old Norse "Balle", both of uncertain etymology. Ballingall, and variant spelling Ballingal, and Ballinghall was a common surname in Newburgh in the middle of the sixteenth century. The following examples illustrate the name development after 1478 (see below), William Banegaw was a witness in 1545, and Andrew Ballingaw in 1551. William Ballingall is recorded in 1558, and a William Baingaw is recorded in 1566 as one of an inquest held on the lands of Raith. A payment was made to a Betty Balingual "in respect she is not to be any more troublesome to this city", in 1724. Locational names were often given to former inhabitants of a village thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Ballingall, which was dated July 1478, in the Scottish Armorial Seals, Edinburgh, during the reign of KIng James 111 of Scotland, 1460 - 1488. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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