The Bala surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 1,968 people carried this name — #15,005 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 149,300 people counted. That is up 26% from 1,568 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Bala surname
From a regional variant of bela.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Bala» (Polish), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Poland’s population register
4,506 people named Bala have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 4,981 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in all 16 of Poland’s voivodeships, most of all in Lesser Poland.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
282 people named Bala live in Switzerland.
They live in 13 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 157 people named Bala.
57 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 30 départements, most often Paris.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 54 people named Bala live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in East Flanders.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 24 people named Bala live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In the Nordic population registers
175 people named Bala are counted in Sweden and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
Who carried it
People named Bala,
with a public archive behind them.
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Władysław Bala 1919–2006 · engineer
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Ladislav Bala 1920–2006 · Esperantist
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Stanisław Bala 1922–2013 · photographer
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Athanase Bala 1927–2019 · Catholic priest
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Szymon Bala 1927–
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Thumma Bala 1944–2024 · Catholic priest
Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Bala.
- Bakari 276 · U.S. census
- Baker 419,586 · U.S. census
- Bakir 289 · U.S. census
- Bakker 3,392 · U.S. census
- Bakowski 348 · U.S. census
- Bal 2,006 · U.S. census
- Balagna 218 · U.S. census
- Balaguer 571 · U.S. census
- Balan 1,527 · U.S. census
- Baland 116 · U.S. census
- Balas 1,812 · U.S. census
- Balay 337 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Bala is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.