Bal (surname)

Bal is a surname of Dutch, Indian, Turkish or Polish origin. In Dutch, bal means "ball" and the name sometimes is metonymic (e.g. indicating a ball player), but primarily appears patronymic after a short form of the name Baldwin. In Turkish, bal means "honey", and could have a metonymic occupational origin from e.g. a beekeeper. Polish surname originated in the XVth century with Jan I Bal. His descendants held various titles and offices in south-eastern part of Poland until partitions. Baligród ("Bal's borough" in Polish) was founded by Piotr II Bal. According to the Universal Electronic System for Registration of the Population in 2002 there were 2016 people with that surname living in Poland. Many Odias also have the surname Bal. Mostly they are the Khandayats in Odisha .In ancient Indian subcontinent mostly the Bal surname Bengalis were the Zamindars of Uruilla, A village in Dhaka.

People with the name include:


 * Andriy Bal (1958–2014), Ukrainian footballer and coach
 * Anton Bal (born 1963), Papua-New Guinea Catholic bishop of Dutch descent
 * Bülent Bal (born 1977), Turkish footballer
 * Cees Bal (born 1951), Dutch racing cyclist
 * Dileep G. Bal (born 1945), Indian-American physician
 * Duygu Bal (born 1987), Turkish volleyball player
 * Emre Bal (born 1997), Dutch footballer of Turkish descent
 * Hannie Bal (1921–2012), Dutch painter
 * Hartosh Singh Bal (born 1966/67), Indian editor, journalist, and columnist
 * Henri Bal (born 1958), Dutch computer scientist
 * İdris Bal (born 1968), Turkish politician and political scientist
 * Jagmeet Bal (born 1972), Indian music video director
 * Jeanne Bal (1928–1996), American actress
 * Kadir Bal (born 1966), Turkish bureaucrat, diplomat, and engineer
 * Martyn Bal (born 1976), Dutch fashion designer
 * Mieke Bal (born 1946), Dutch cultural theorist and video artist
 * Nanda Kishore Bal (1875–1928), Indian (Odia) poet
 * Navjeet Bal, American jurist
 * Nicolas Bal (born 1978), French Nordic combined skier
 * Randall Bal (born 1980), American backstroke swimmer
 * Rohit Bal (born 1961), Indian fashion designer
 * Rupan Bal (born 1990), Indian-born Canadian actor and comedian
 * Vidya Bal (1937–2020), Indian (Marathi) writer and editor
 * Vincent Bal (born 1971), Belgian movie director
 * Vineeta Bal, Indian immunologist