Beckey
Diminutive form of the English name Rebecca, meaning "to tie" or "to bind".
Name Census estimates that about 421 living Americans carry the first name Beckey. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Beckey today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Beckey births was 1962 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Beckey. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
421
~ 1 in 814,143 Americans
Peak year
1962
29 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
1987 SSA rank
#9,961
Tracked since 1937
Popularity
Beckey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Beckey from the 1930s through to the 1980s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 192 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Beckey by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Beckey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Beckeys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Beckey
The name Beckey is believed to have originated from the Old English name Becca, which was a diminutive form of the name Rebecca. Rebecca is derived from the Hebrew name Rivqah, which means "to tie" or "to bind." The name Beckey is thought to have been a variant spelling that emerged during the Middle Ages in England.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Beckey can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landholdings and taxation in England compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. In this document, there is a reference to a woman named Beckey who was a landowner in the county of Yorkshire.
During the 16th century, the name Beckey was relatively uncommon but can be found in various historical records from that time period. One notable example is Beckey Whittington, who was born in 1524 and was the daughter of the famous English merchant and philanthropist, Richard Whittington.
In the 17th century, the name Beckey gained some popularity among Puritan families in England and the American colonies. One notable figure from this era was Beckey Southwick, an English Quaker who was born in 1616 and was among the group of Quakers known as the "Boston Martyrs" who were persecuted and banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for their religious beliefs.
In the 18th century, the name Beckey continued to be used, although it remained relatively uncommon. One notable figure from this period was Beckey Greenwood, an English actress who was born in 1744 and was known for her performances in various plays and pantomimes in London.
During the 19th century, the name Beckey saw a slight increase in popularity, particularly in the United States. One notable American figure with this name was Beckey Thatcher, a fictional character in the novel "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain, published in 1876. Beckey Thatcher was the love interest of the main character, Tom Sawyer, and her name became associated with the image of a quintessential American girl from that era.
People
Beckey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Beckey as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Beckey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Beckey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 421 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Beckey going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 814,143 US residents.
Is Beckey a common name?
We classify Beckey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 552 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Beckey most popular?
The single biggest year for Beckey was 1962, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Beckey is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Beckey a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Beckey in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.