Bev
A diminutive form of Beverley or Beverly, meaning meadow from an old English place name.
Name Census estimates that about 740 living Americans carry the first name Bev. It is a predominantly female name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Bev today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bev births was 1959 (127 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bev. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Bev is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bevs were born before 1969.
People living today
740
~ 1 in 463,182 Americans
Peak year
1959
127 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
1917 SSA rank
#4,047
Tracked since 1917
Census
Bev in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,406 people with the first name Bev, which placed it at #6,621 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,621
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,406 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bev
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bev is White at 87.4%. The next largest groups are Black (4.4%) and Hispanic (3.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Bev described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Bev at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.4% · 2,104
- Black or African American4.4% · 105
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 71
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 52
- Two or more races2.0% · 47
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 27
Gender
Gender distribution for Bev
Out of the 1,003 babies given the name Bev since 1880, 99.5% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Bev as a male name
- Ranked #4,047 in 1917
- 5 male births in 1917
- Peak: 1917 (5 births)
Bev as a female name
- Ranked #5,587 in 1971
- 9 female births in 1971
- Peak: 1959 (127 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bev leans strongly female. 2,339 people counted with this name were female (97.3%), compared with 65 male bearers (2.7%).
Popularity
Bev: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bev from the 1910s through to the 1970s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 480 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
Bev 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 Bev during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bevs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Ohio, California, Michigan recorded the most babies named Bev, while Missouri, Kentucky, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 35 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bev
The name Bev is a diminutive form of the name Beverley or Beverly, which has its origins in the Old English language. The name is derived from the combination of two words: "befer" meaning beaver, and "leah" meaning a meadow or clearing. Therefore, the name Beverley or Beverly can be translated to mean "beaver meadow" or "beaver clearing."
This name is believed to have originated in the town of Beverley, located in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, during the Anglo-Saxon period. The town itself was named after the beavers that inhabited the area and the meadows where they lived. The name Bev emerged as a shortened version of Beverley or Beverly, likely as a nickname or diminutive form.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Beverley can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of the great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The town of Beverley is mentioned in this text, indicating the long-standing history of the name.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Bev or its longer forms. One of the most famous was Bev Bevan, an English drummer and co-founder of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). Born in 1944, Bevan was a prominent figure in the music industry and played a significant role in shaping the sound of ELO.
Another notable bearer of the name was Bev Risman, an American actress and singer who appeared in several Broadway musicals and films during the mid-20th century. Born in 1925, Risman was known for her roles in productions such as "Guys and Dolls" and "The Pajama Game."
In the world of sports, Bev Bentley was a Canadian ice hockey player who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1940s and 1950s. Born in 1924, Bentley was a skilled defenseman and helped the Maple Leafs win three Stanley Cup championships during his career.
The name Bev has also been associated with literary figures, such as Bev Vincent, an American author and editor who has written extensively on horror fiction and pop culture. Born in 1959, Vincent has authored several books and contributed to numerous publications in his field.
Finally, Bev Perdue was an American politician who served as the 73rd Governor of North Carolina from 2009 to 2013. Born in 1947, Perdue was the first woman to hold the position of governor in the state of North Carolina.
People
Bev + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bev 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
Bev: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bev?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 740 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bev 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 463,182 US residents.
Is Bev a common name?
We classify Bev as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,003 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bev most popular?
The single biggest year for Bev was 1959, when 127 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bev is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bev in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,406 people with the name Bev, or 0.80 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,621 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Bev in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Bev?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bev leans strongly female. 2,339 people counted with this name were female (97.3%), compared with 65 male bearers (2.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Bev?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bev is White at 87.4%. The next largest groups are Black (4.4%) and Hispanic (3.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Bev most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bev in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.4% (2,104 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Bev in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bev a female name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Bev 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.
Is Bev still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bev in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Bev can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people share the name Bev?
Find out how many people have the name Bev on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.