Beverly
A feminine given name of Old English origin meaning "beaver meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 187,745 living Americans carry the first name Beverly. It is a predominantly female name (98.8% of registrations). The average person named Beverly today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Beverly births was 1953 (11,287 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Beverly. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Beverly with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Beverly is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 4,632 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Beverly is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Beverlys were born before 1966.
- • Compared to the 1950s, recent registration numbers for Beverly have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
188K
~ 1 in 1,826 Americans
Peak year
1953
11,287 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
1991 SSA rank
#1,046
Tracked since 1880
Census
Beverly in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 249,644 people with the first name Beverly, which placed it at #219 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
#219
National first-name rank
People counted
250K
249,644 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
82.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Beverly
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Beverly is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Black (15.0%) and Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Beverly 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 Beverly at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.9% · 196,890
- Black or African American15.0% · 37,387
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 5,658
- Two or more races2.0% · 5,013
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 2,998
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1,698
Gender
Gender distribution for Beverly
Beverly leans heavily female at 98.8% of total registrations, but 4,632 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Beverly as a male name
- Ranked #8,342 in 1991
- 5 male births in 1991
- Peak: 1926 (121 births)
Beverly as a female name
- Ranked #1,046 in 2024
- 239 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1953 (11,240 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Beverly appears almost entirely female. Of the 249,640 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Beverly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Beverly from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 98,326 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Beverly 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 Beverly during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Beverlys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. New York, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Beverly, while Alaska, Nevada, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7,381 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Beverly
The name Beverly has its roots in the Old English language, originating from the combination of two words: "beorg" meaning hill or mound, and "ley" meaning a meadow or clearing. It was likely first used as a place name before becoming a personal name.
In medieval England, the name Beverly was often associated with locations or settlements situated on or near hills, with records dating back to the 11th century. One of the earliest documented instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Beverlac" and "Beverlie," referring to what is now known as the town of Beverley in East Yorkshire.
As a personal name, Beverly gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly among the nobility and upper classes. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Beverly of Beverley, a 7th-century English saint and bishop of Hexham, who lived from around 672 to 721 AD.
Another notable figure was Beverly Newcombe, also known as Beverley Newcombe, an English courtier and politician who served as a Member of Parliament during the 16th century, born around 1510 and died in 1559.
In the 17th century, Beverly Bayne, an English writer and poet, was born in 1633 and gained recognition for her poetic works, particularly her collection of religious poems titled "Poems on Several Occasions" published in 1672.
During the 18th century, Beverly Robinson, an American loyalist and soldier, played a significant role in the American Revolutionary War. He was born in 1723 and died in 1792, serving as a colonel in the British army and later becoming a prominent landowner in New York.
In the 19th century, Beverly Tucker, an American author, and legal scholar, made his mark. Born in 1784, he was a prominent figure in the literary and legal circles of Virginia, publishing several works including "The Partisan Leader" and serving as a law professor at the College of William and Mary.
These are just a few examples of individuals who bore the name Beverly throughout history, illustrating its enduring presence across various eras and cultures.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Beverly
People
Beverly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Beverly 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
Beverly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Beverly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 187,745 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Beverly 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 1,826 US residents.
Is Beverly a common name?
We classify Beverly as "Common". It ranks above 99.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 382,945 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Beverly most popular?
The single biggest year for Beverly was 1953, when 11,287 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Beverly is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Beverly in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 249,644 people with the name Beverly, or 82.66 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #219 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 Beverly 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 Beverly?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Beverly appears almost entirely female. Of the 249,640 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Beverly?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Beverly is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Black (15.0%) and Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Beverly most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Beverly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.9% (196,890 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 Beverly in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Beverly a female name?
Yes, 98.8% of people registered as Beverly 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 Beverly still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Beverly 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 Beverly 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 common is the name Beverly?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Beverly on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.