Bales

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Belle in US United States, CA Canada, AI Anguilla and 1 more, Белла in RU Russia, UA Ukraine, TR Türkiye, Bela in GE Georgia, IN India, HR Croatia and Bailleul in FR France.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested in 1 language in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Bales is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish surname8.1K records spelled Bales3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Philippines, Brazil, Argentina

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Balés

• a separate surname4.7K records spelled Bales3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, India, Canada

  Also written Báleš, Balès

• Hindi surname522 records spelled Bales5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, India, Philippines

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu, Bangla

  Also written বেলুস, Báleš

• Greek surname301 records spelled Bales6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States

  Also written Balēs, Mpalēs, Μπαλες, Mpales, Μπαλές

• Czech surname262 records spelled Bales5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Czechia, United States, Slovakia, United Kingdom

  Languages: Czech, Slovak

  Also written Báleš, Baleš

46 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Bales is also recorded in 6 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In enm, plural of bale (“evil”)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In ban, reward, recompense, desserts; to reward, repay, retaliate; respond, reply (to a letter)

  as a word·Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (ACD), CLDF v2.0

• In Latin, second-person singular present active subjunctive of bālō

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Sundanese, retribution, retaliation; retaliate, avenge; to answer

  as a word·Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (ACD), CLDF v2.0

• In Portuguese, second-person singular present subjunctive of balar

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In tiy, to finish in detail, to smooth finish, as of wood

  as a word·Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (ACD), CLDF v2.0

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

FR INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) — 11 years between 1891–1991. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Peter Balesb. 1547GBEnglish calligrapher
• Gerald Balesb. 1919CACanadian composer and classical organist (1919-2002)
• Steve Balesb. 1942USNASA official
• Roger Balesb. 1948GBEnglish snooker player
• Kevin Balesb. 1952USAmerican academic; co-founder and past president of Free the Slaves
• Susan Fordb. 1957USnot in their usual nameAmerican photographer
• Barry Balesb. 1969USAmerican bassist
• Robert Balesb. 1973USAmerican army soldier and mass murderer condemned
• Alison Balesb. 1985USAmerican basketball player (born 1985)
• B.J. Balesactor

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 50 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Bales?

We estimate roughly 188 thousand people bear Bales (counting its spellings and scripts) across 15 countries in our records.

In which country does Bales have the most bearers?

We estimate about 107 thousand people bear Bales in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled belle.

Where is Bales most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Bales is densest in Hungary — about 1 in 225 people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is Bales compared with other names?

In Georgia, Bales is the 164th most common given name of 34,237 given names recorded there.

What does the name Bales mean?

Recorded meaning: Main GB Location (1881): E England: esp. Norfolk. (i) variant of Bale with post-medieval excrescent -s. (ii) variant of Bayliss . (iii) locative name from Bayles in Alston (Cumb).