This name is of Scottish locational origin from the lands of Bellenden in the former county of Roxburghshire or from Ballinto(u)n in Stirlingshire. The name derives from the Gaelic "baile an deadhain" translating as "the farmstead of the dean". The surname is first recorded in Scotland in the mid 16th Century, (see below). One, David Bellenden cordiner (shoemaker) in Maybole appears in "The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland", dated 1630 and another David Ballenden in "The Commissariot record of Stirling", dated 1642. In the "modern" idiom, the name has six spelling variations:- Ballantine, Ballantyne, Ballintine, Ballentiyne, Ballinytne and Ballendine. James Ballantine (1808 - 1877) was an artist and author who executed stained glass windows for the House of Lords and published poetical works. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Sir Alexander Balindin, chaplin in Methven, which was dated 1563 in "The provostry of Methven", by T. Morris, during the reign of Queen Mary, known as "Mary Queen of Scots, 1542 - 1567. 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.