Beverley

Where Beverley comes from

From Old English befer (“beaver”) + lēah (“clearing”). Equivalent to Beaver + -ley (“lea”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Beverley
  • From a surname
  • 3 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Beverley through the years
  1. 1912
    First appearance
    #2,634 among girls with 6 babies, the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1915
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name. From this year on, more girls have.
  3. 1938
    Peak, #309
    407 babies named Beverley, the most in any year.
  4. 1959
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births, down to #789.
  5. 1968
    Beverley Allitt born
    English serial killer
  6. 1981
    Beverley Mitchell born
    American actress
In the dictionary
  • A unisex given name transferred from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Beverley Mitchell · American actress, born 1981
  • Beverley Allitt · English serial killer, born 1968
  • Beverley Whitfield · Australian swimmer, Olympic gold medallist, 1954–1996
  • Beverley Goddard · British athlete, born 1956
  • Beverley Owen · American actress, 1937–2019

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.