Find out how popular the last name Beverly is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Beverly.

Beverly, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Beverly surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Beverly in America

Beverly is the 2992nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Beverly surname appeared 11,978 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 4 people would have the surname Beverly.

We can also compare 2010 data for Beverly to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Beverly

The surname Beverly is English in origin and dates back to the medieval period. It is a habitational name derived from one of the several places called Beverly in England, such as the town of Beverley in East Yorkshire. The name is thought to come from the Old English words "beofor" meaning beaver and "leah" meaning woodland clearing, indicating that the original place was a clearing inhabited by beavers.

The earliest known record of the surname Beverly is found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears in various spellings such as Beverlac and Beverlei. This suggests that the name was already well-established in England by the time of the Norman Conquest.

During the Middle Ages, the town of Beverley in East Yorkshire was an important ecclesiastical center and home to a prominent Minster church. Several notable individuals with the surname Beverly were associated with this town, including William of Beverley, a 12th-century Archbishop of York who was canonized as a saint.

Another early bearer of the name was Robert de Beverley, who was born in the late 12th century and served as a Canon of the Beverley Minster. He is credited with writing a collection of medieval miracles attributed to St. John of Beverley.

In the 16th century, John Beverley (c. 1510 - 1558) was a prominent English Catholic martyr who was executed during the reign of Queen Mary I for his religious beliefs.

During the English Civil War in the 17th century, Robert Beverley (1622 - 1687) was a Cavalier soldier who fought for King Charles I and later became a historian and author, writing a notable work titled "The History and Present State of Virginia" in 1705.

One of the most famous individuals with the surname Beverly was the English actress Mary Beverly (1637 - 1720), who was a leading performer in the Restoration era and was praised for her roles in plays by writers like John Dryden and William Wycherley.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Beverly

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Beverly.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Beverly was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Beverly has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Beverly was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Beverly, please contact us.

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