(origin: Local) From the barony and castle of Balfour, near the confluence of the rivers Or and Leven. (Scot.) Ball and Balla, in Gaelic, signifies a casting up, raising, like the Greek B??, and denotes a wall, fortress, house, a village. Balfour, i. e., the Keep, or castle on the river Or. Balfoir, the castle of deliverance or security.

Arthur, William (1857) An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain.

BALFOUR. A castle and fief in Fifeshire of which county the chiefs were hereditary sheriffs. The family sprang from Siward, a Northumld-ian, who settled in Scotland temp. Duncan I.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.