Beverly or Beverley is an English surname, which was in turn taken from the place name Beverley. The place name derives from Old English, combining befer ("beaver") and lēah ("clearing').[citation needed]
| Gender | Unisex |
|---|---|
| Language(s) | English |
| Origin | |
| Language(s) | Old English |
| Word/name | Combination of befer and lēah |
| Meaning | "beaver" + "clearing" |
| Region of origin | England |
| Other names | |
| Variant form(s) | Beverley |
| Short form(s) | Bev |
| Related names | Everly, Waverly, Kimberly |
It is also a given name. It is sometimes shortened to Bev. It was at one time a common masculine given name, but is now almost exclusively a feminine name due to the popularity of a 1904 novel, Beverly of Graustark by George Barr McCutcheon.[1] Its association with Beverly Hills, California, where many well known film actors live, might also have contributed to its usage in the United States.[2]
Usage
editThe name ranked among the 1,000 most popular names for newborn girls in the United States between 1905 and 1999 and was among the top 100 names for American girls between 1926 and 1964. It was at the peak of its popularity in 1937, when it was the 14th most popular name for newborn girls. It was also among the 1,000 most popular names for American boys at different points between 1880 and 1954.
It was among the top 100 names for newborn girls in Canada between 1929 and 1963, and among the top 100 names for newborn girls in New Zealand between 1930 and 1953.[3] As of 2024[update] the name is again increasing in usage, influenced by the popularity of similar sounding names such as Everly and Bellamy.[4]
People with the name
editNotable people with the name Beverly or Beverley include:
Given name
edit- Beverly Aadland (1942–2010), American film actress
- Beverly Adams (born 1945), Canadian-American actress and author
- Beverly Allen (born 1945), Australian botanical artist
- Beverly Allitt (born 1968), English serial killer
- Beverly Anderson (born 1943), American mathematician and professor
- Beverly Archer (fl. 1970s–2000s), American actress
- Beverly Armstrong (born 1934), American girl's baseball pitcher
- Beverley Badenhorst, South African politician
- Beverly Barton (1946–2011), American author
- Beverly Bayne (1894–1982), American actress
- Beverly Schmidt Blossom (1926–2014), American dancer, choreographer, and teacher
- Beverly A. Bodem (born 1940), member of the Michigan House of Representatives
- Beverly Bond (born 1970), American author, DJ, businesswoman, philanthropist, producer, writer and model
- Beverly Boys (born 1951), Canadian diver
- Beverly Bremers (born 1950), American singer and actress
- Beverly Briley (1914–1980), mayor of Nashville, Tennessee (1963–1975)
- Beverly Burns (born 1949), American aviator
- Beverly Byron (born 1932), American politician
- Beverly Caimen (born 1994), stage name Beverly, Filipino pop singer in Japan
- Beverly Callard (born 1957), English actress
- Beverly Carradine (1848–1931), American Methodist minister and evangelist
- Beverly Chester-Burton (born 1963), American politician
- Beverly Chew (1773–1851), American merchant and diplomat
- Beverly Cleary (1916–2021), American children's author
- Beverly Glenn-Copeland (born 1944), American-born Canadian singer-songwriter
- Beverly Cross (1931–1998), British screenwriter
- Beverly D'Angelo (born 1951), American actress
- Beverly Daggett (1945–2015), American politician
- Beverly A. Davis (1868–1944), American lawyer and politician
- Beverly Donofrio (born 1950), American writer
- Beverly B. Douglas (1822–1878), United States Representative from Virginia
- Beverly Earle (born 1943), American politician
- Beverly M. Emerson, American biochemist
- Beverly Baker Fleitz (1930–2014), American tennis player
- Beverly Gage, American academic
- Beverly A. Gage (died 1997), American politician
- Beverly Thomas Galloway (1863–1938), American plant pathologist
- Beverly Garland (1926–2008), American actress
- Beverly Gooden, African American writer and social activist
- Beverly Hall (1946–2015), Jamaican-American education administrator
- Beverly Harvard (born 1950), American police chief
- Beverly L. Hodghead (1865–1928), American politician and lawyer
- Beverly Horse (1931-2010), Native American educator and activist
- Beverly Johnson (born 1952), American supermodel
- Beverly Kenney (1932–1960), American jazz singer
- Beverly Kills, Australian drag performer
- Beverly LaHaye (1929–2024), American Christian conservative activist and author
- Beverly Lewis, American author
- Beverly Long (1920–2015), American Civil Rights and mental health activist
- Beverly Long (1933–2014), American film and television actress
- Beverly Lowry (born 1938), American educator, novelist and short story writer
- Beverly Lunsford (1945–2019), American actress
- Beverly Lynne (born 1973), American actress
- Beverley Manley (born 1941), Jamaican public figure
- Beverly B. Martin (born 1955), judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- Beverly Middleton (1928 – 1996), American engineer and politician
- Beverly Naya (born 1989), British-born Nigerian actress
- Beverly O'Neill (born 1930), American politician
- Beverly Osu (born 1992), Nigerian video vixen, model and actress
- Beverly Peele (born 1975), American model and actress
- Beverly Penberthy (born 1932), American actress
- Beverly Polcyn (1927–2018), American actress
- Beverly Potts (born 1941), American girl with an unsolved disappearance
- Beverly Robertson (1827–1910), American cavalry officer
- Beverly Ross (1934–2022), American singer-songwriter and musician
- Beverly Salviejo (born 1956), Filipina singer, actress, and comedian
- Beverly Shade (1936–2023), American professional wrestler
- Beverly Sills (1929–2007), American operatic soprano
- Beverly Burnsed Spencer (1941–2019), American politician and university administrator
- Beverly Sitgreaves (1863–1943), American actress
- Beverly Daniel Tatum (born 1954), American psychologist, administrator, and educator
- Beverly Todd (born 1946), American actress, producer and writer
- Beverly Tyler (1927–2005), American actress and singer
- Beverly Uueziua (born 1999), Namibian footballer
- Beverly Washburn (born 1943), American actress
- Beverly Watkins (1939–2019), American blues guitarist
- Beverly Weigel (born 1940), New Zealand athlete
- Beverly Whipple, American sexologist
- Beverly White (1928–2021), American activist and politician
- Beverly Williams (born 1947), American news anchor
- Beverly Wills (1933–1963), American television and film actress
- Beverly Willis (1928–2023), American architect
- Beverly Wildung Harrison (1932–2012), American Presbyterian feminist theologian
- Beverly Woolley (born 1939), American politician
- Beverly Wright (fl. 1990s–2020s), American environmental justice scholar
- Beverly Page Yates (1811–1883), American-Liberian politician and fourth vice president of Liberia
Surname
editBeverly
edit- Arthur Beverly (1822–1907), New Zealand watchmaker, mathematician and astronomer
- Bill Beverly (born 1965), American crime writer
- Charles Beverly (1899–1981), American baseball player
- David Beverly (born 1950), American football player
- Eric Beverly (born 1974), American professional football player
- Gerald Beverly, (born 1993) American basketball player
- Hattie Beverly, (1874–1904) African-American school teacher
- William Roxby Beverly (1810–1889), English painter
Beverley
edit- Beverley Allitt (born 1968), British serial killer of children
- Beverley Bass (born c. 1951), American pilot
- Beverley Baxter (1891–1964), British journalist and politician
- Beverley "Bev" Bevan (born 1944), English rock musician
- Beverley Bindha, British makeup artist
- Beverley Bolin (1923–2014), first woman to become a registered architect in South Australia
- Beverley Cochrane Cayley (1898–1928), Canadian lawyer and mountaineer
- Beverley Cressman, British actress
- Beverley Garlick (born 1944), Australian architect
- Beverly Anne Giesbrecht (1953–2010), Canadian convert to Islam and web designer
- Beverley Goddard (born 1956), British sprinter
- Beverley Goodway (1943–2012), British glamour photographer
- Beverley Harper (1943–2002), Australian author of novels set in Africa
- Beverley Knight (born 1973), English soul and R&B singer-songwriter
- Beverley Randolph Mason (1834–1910), American educator
- Beverly McClellan (1969–2018), American singer, contestant in the first season of the American TV series The Voice
- Beverley McLachlin (born 1943), Canadian jurist and 17th Chief Justice of Canada
- Beverly Michaels (1927–2007), American actress and pin-up model
- Beverley Mitchell (born 1981), American actress and country music singer
- Beverley Nichols (1898–1983), English author
- Beverley Owen (1937–2019), American actress
- Beverley Randolph (1754–1797), eighth governor of Virginia
- Beverley Shenstone (1906–1979), Canadian aerodynamicist
- Beverley Wang, Canadian-Australian radio producer and presenter
- Charles James Beverley (1788–1868), British Naval surgeon, FRS.
- Cliff Beverley (born 1977), former New Zealand Rugby League player
- Frankie Beverly (born 1946), American soul/funk singer-songwriter
- Harry Beverley (rugby league, born 1907), rugby league footballer of the 1930s and 1940s
- Harry Beverley (rugby league, born 1947), rugby league footballer of the 1970s and 1980s
- Helen Beverley (1916–2011), American actress
- Henry Roxby Beverley (1790–1863), English actor
- James R. Beverley (1894–1967), United States lawyer
- Jo Beverley (1947–2016), British novelist
- Nick Beverley (born 1947), former Canadian National Hockey League player and head coach
- Patrick Beverley (born 1988), American basketball player in the NBA and now for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Peter Beverley (c. 1668 – 1728), Virginia colonial politician, Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses
- Robert Beverley Jr. (1673–1722), American historian
- Trazana Beverley, American actress
- William Beverley (1696–1756), American legislator, civil servant, planter, and landowner
Fictional characters
edit- "B", real name Beverly, from Total Drama: Revenge of the Island
- Beverly, the owl spirit, from Spiritfarer
- Beverly Bighead, one of the supporting characters in Rocko's Modern Life
- Beverley Carlton, a character in the play The Man Who Came to Dinner, based on Noël Coward
- Beverly Crusher, in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and related media
- Beverly Harris, in the sitcom Roseanne
- Beverly Hope, a recurring character in the television series American Horror Story: Cult, played by Adina Porter
- Beverly Katz, in the novel Red Dragon and the TV series Hannibal
- Beverly King, brother to Felix King in The Story Girl and The Golden Road, by L. M. Montgomery
- Beverley Leslie, a recurring character (Karen Walker's frenemy) in the sitcom Will and Grace
- Beverly Mantle, one of the identical twin main characters of the movie Dead Ringers, both played by Jeremy Irons
- Beverly Marsh, the only female member of the loser's club in Stephen King's novel It
- Beverly Marshall, in the Australian soap opera Neighbours
- Beverly Moss, the central character of Mike Leigh's television play Abigail's Party
- Beverly Weston, in the play August: Osage County
References
edit- ^ Stewart, George R. (1979). American Given Names: Their Origin and History in the Context of the English Language. Oxford University Press. p. 69. ISBN 9780195024654.
- ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. p. 34. ISBN 0-19-861060-2.
- ^ Campbell, Mike. "Beverly". behindthename.com. Behind the Name. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
- ^ "The Top Names We're Watching for 2024". Nameberry. Retrieved 29 November 2023.