Origin of the name Balatovsky

There are two versions of the origin of the name Balatovsky.

The first version is Ukrainian. In Odessa of the the end of 19-th century there were tobacco shops on Arnautskaya and Kuznechanya streets. They belonged to a Jewish family Balatov. The name came from Hebrew "baal tova" - benefactor, donor. So Balatovsky may be a variation of just this family name.

The second version is Belorussian. It is known that one could come across the family name Balatovsky (just in this form) in the Vitebsk gubernia and in the Baltic countries. The family name is rather rare and it is plausible that many people having this name are relatives. There are several more variations on the name spelling - Balotovsky, Baltovsky and Bolotowsky. All these spellings as researchers suppose came from the name of the village where the family (or several families) resided before the beginning of the 19-th century. Later, similarly to essentially all families of Belorussia Jews, the family separated. Part came to the USA:

In 1901 Zusi Balatovsky goes from Vitebsk to his father in New York.

In 1911 Berka Balatovsky goes from Mogilev to his uncle in New York.

In 1913 Yankel Balatovsky from Nevel (the Vitebsk gubernia) immigrates to the USA.

In the same geographical places one can encounter the family name Polotovsky. It is not excluded then that Bolotovsky resulted from incorrect writing of the name Polotovsky. During the times when people were not that serious about the family name (the beginning or the middle of the 19-th century) such a mistake could well happen. A person said one thing, the officer heard another, wrote this down and it remained like this. Such stories happened often in those times.