Ball is an English surname that has multiple potential origins, as do many short surnames: one origin suggests that Ball is a shortened form, a "favorite contraction", of the given name Baldwin, dating "from Norman times" another purported origin is related to living near a "knoll or rounded hill" the surname may also descend from the Old Norse personal name "Balle" it could be a toponymic surname, related to Ball, Cornwall, EnglandAccording to Bowman, Ball and related names had only "limited application as personal names and that generally they have come into existence as nicknames.".
