Beverly or Beverley is a given name and surname. It is derived from an

English surname English names are names used in, or originating in, England. In England as elsewhere in the English-speaking world, a complete name usually consists of a given name, commonly referred to as a first name, and a (most commonly patrilineal) family ...

, which was in turn taken from the place name

Beverley Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...

. The place name derives from Old English, combining (beaver) and (clearing). It was at one time a common masculine given name, but is now almost exclusively a feminine name due to the popularity of a 1904 novel, ''Beverly of Graustark'' by

George Barr McCutcheon George Barr McCutcheon (July 26, 1866 – October 23, 1928) was an American popular novelist and playwright. His best known works include a series of novels set in Graustark, a fictional East European country, and the novel '' Brewster's Milli ...

. Notable people with the name include:

Given name

Beverly Adams Beverly Sassoon (born ) is a Canadian-American actress and author. Early life Adams was born in Alberta, Canada, but was a citizen of the United States. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Adams. Raised Roman Catholic, she moved with her ...

(born 1945), Canadian-American actress and author * Beverly Allen (born 1945), Australian botanical artist *

Beverley Allitt Beverley Gail Allitt (born 4 October 1968) is an English serial child killer who was convicted of murdering four children, attempting to murder three other children and causing grievous bodily harm to a further six. The crimes were committed ...

(born 1968), British serial killer of children * Beverley Badenhorst, South African politician *

Beverley Bass Beverley Bass (born March 27, 1952) is an American aircraft pilot and was the first female captain of an American Airlines commercial plane. She was hired in 1976 by American Airlines as their third female pilot. In 1986, Bass became the first fe ...

(born c. 1951), American pilot *

Beverly Bayne Beverly Bayne (born Pearl Beverly Van Name; November 11, 1894 – August 18, 1982) was an American actress who appeared in silent films beginning in 1910 in Chicago, Illinois, where she worked for Essanay Studios. Early life Born in Minneapoli ...

(1894–1982), American actress * Beverley "Bev" Bevan (born 1944), English rock musician *

Beverly Boys Beverly Boys (born July 4, 1951) is a retired diver from Canada, who represented her native country in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. ...

(born 1951), Canadian diver *

Beverly Briley Clifton Beverly Briley (January 11, 1914 – September 14, 1980) was an American attorney and politician, the first mayor of the newly consolidated metropolitan government of Nashville and Davidson County in Tennessee. Elected to the mayor' ...

(1914–1980), mayor of Nashville, Tennessee (1963–1975) *Beverly Caimen (born 1994), stage name Beverly, Filipino pop singer in Japan *

Beverley Cochrane Cayley Beverley Cochrane Cayley (October 25, 1898 – June 8, 1928) was a Canadian lawyer and mountaineer. Early life Cayley was born on October 25, 1898, in Grand Forks, British Columbia. He was the only child of Canadian politician and County Cour ...

(1898–1928), Canadian lawyer and mountaineer *

Beverly Cleary Beverly Atlee Cleary (née Bunn; April 12, 1916March 25, 2021) was an American writer of chapter books, children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful authors, 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide sin ...

(1916–2021), American children's author *

Beverley Cressman Beverley Cressman is a British actress, best known for being the first person cast as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart. She appeared in two unofficial direct-to-video ''Doctor Who'' spin-offs, ''Downtime'' (1995), and '' Dæmos Rising'' (2004). Career ...

, British actress *

Beverly M. Emerson Beverly M. Emerson (born January 18, 1952) is an Emeritus Professor of Biological Sciences at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies who uncovered details about how cancer becomes drug resistant. She is currently at the Oregon Health & Science ...

, American biochemist *

Beverly Baker Fleitz Beverly Baker Fleitz (March 13, 1930 – April 29, 2014) was a women's tennis player from the United States who was active in the late 1940s and during the 1950s. According to John Olliff and Lance Tingay of ''The Daily Telegraph'' and the ''Dail ...

(1930–2014), American tennis player *

Beverly Thomas Galloway Beverly Thomas Galloway (October 16, 1863 – June 13, 1938) was an American plant pathologist and horticulturist who was the first head of the Division of Vegetable Physiology and Pathology of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). H ...

(1863–1938), American plant pathologist *

Beverly Garland Beverly Lucy Garland (née Fessenden; October 17, 1926 – December 5, 2008) was an American actress. Her work in feature films primarily consisted of small parts in a few major productions or leads in low-budget action or science-fiction movie ...

(1926–2008), American actress *

Beverly Garlick Beverley Garlick (born 1944) is an Australian architect. She completed a bachelor of architecture degree at the University of Melbourne. Along with feminist contemporaries such as Vivienne Binns, Barbara Hall, Frances Phoenix, Jude Adams and ...

(born 1944), Australian architect *

Beverley Goddard Beverley Lanita Callender (née Goddard, born 28 August 1956) is an English former track and field sprinter. She competed for Great Britain at the Olympic Games in Montreal 1976, Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984, winning bronze medals in the 4 x ...

(born 1956), former British sprinter *

Beverley Goodway Beverley Goodway (13 October 1943 – 4 November 2012) was an English photographer known for his glamour shots which were published on Page 3 of '' The Sun'' newspaper in the United Kingdom. He began his career with a news agency in 1965 afte ...

(1943–2012), British glamour photographer *

Beverley Harper Beverley Harper (1941 – 9 August 2002) was an Australian author of novels set in Africa. Born in Bulli, New South Wales in 1941, Harper visited Africa in 1967. Although she meant to stay for only one year, she lived there until 1988, when she r ...

(1943–2002), Australian author of novels set in Africa *

Beverly Johnson Beverly Ann Johnson (born October 13, 1952) is an American model, actress, singer, and businesswoman. Johnson rose to fame when she became the first African-American model to appear on the cover of American ''Vogue'' in August 1974. In 1975, Jo ...

(born 1952), American supermodel *

Beverley Knight Beverley Knight (born Beverley Anne Smith, 22 March 1973) is an English recording artist and musical theatre actress. She released her first album, ''The B-Funk'', in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke and ...

(born 1973), English soul and R&B singer-songwriter *

Beverley Randolph Mason Beverley Randolph Mason (1 September 1834–22 April 1910) was an American military officer and educator who was the founder and principal of the Gunston Hall School for young women in Washington, D.C. Mason was a great-grandson of George Maso ...

(1834–1910), American educator *

Beverly McClellan Beverly McClellan (July 6, 1969 – October 30, 2018) was an American singer and a contestant in the first season of the American TV series ''The Voice'', reaching the final four. At age four, McClellan started playing the piano and later lea ...

(1969–2018), American singer, contestant in the first season of the American TV series ''The Voice'' *

Beverley McLachlin Beverley Marian McLachlin (born September 7, 1943) is a Canadian jurist and author who served as the 17th chief justice of Canada from 2000 to 2017. She is the longest-serving chief justice in Canadian history and the first woman to hold the p ...

(born 1943), Canadian jurist and 17th Chief Justice of Canada *

Beverley Mitchell Beverley Ann Mitchell is an American actress and country music singer. She portrayed Lucy Camden on the television series '' 7th Heaven''. Early life After graduating from Chaminade College Preparatory School in 1999, Mitchell enrolled at Loy ...

(born 1981), American actress and country music singer *

Beverley Nichols John Beverley Nichols (9 September 1898 – 15 September 1983) was an English writer, playwright and public speaker. He wrote more than 60 books and plays. Career Between his first book, the novel, ''Prelude'' (1920) and his last, a book of po ...

(1898–1983), English author *

Beverley Randolph Beverley Randolph (1754February 7, 1797) was an American politician from Virginia. From 1788 to 1791, he served as the eighth Governor of Virginia. Biography Randolph was one of four children born to Peter Randolph, son of William Randolph II ...

(1754–1797), eighth governor of Virginia *

Beverley Shenstone Beverley Strahan Shenstone MASc, HonFRAes, FAIAA, AFIAS, FCAISI, HonOSTIV (10 June 1906 – 9 November 1979) was a Canadian aerodynamicist often credited with developing the aerodynamics of the Supermarine Spitfire elliptical wing. In his lat ...

(1906-1979), Canadian aerodynamicist *

Beverly Sills Beverly Sills (May 25, 1929July 2, 2007) was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. Although she sang a repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Puccini, Massenet and Verdi, she was especially renowned for ...

(1929–2007), American operatic soprano *

Beverly Washburn Beverly Washburn (born November 25, 1943) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney drama ''Old Yeller (film), Old Yeller'' (1957) and the American General Pictures horror ''Spider Baby'' (19 ...

(born 1943), American actress *

Beverly Watkins Beverly "Guitar" Watkins (April 6, 1939 – October 1, 2019) was an American blues guitarist. Sandra Pointer-Jones wrote, "Beverly Watkins is a pyrotechnic guitar maven whose searing, ballistic attacks on the guitar have become allegorical tales ...

(1939–2019), American blues guitarist

Surname

Charles Beverly Charles "Hooks" Beverly (May 6, 1899 – March, 1981) was an American baseball pitcher in the Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin ...

, American baseball player * Charles James Beverley (1788–1868), British Naval surgeon, FRS. *

Cliff Beverley Cliff Beverley (born 25 March 1977) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer. His preferred position was , although he was somewhat of a utility and spent considerable time at . Background Beverley was born in New Zealand. ...

(born 1977), former New Zealand Rugby League player *

Frankie Beverly Frankie Beverly (born Howard Beverly, December 6, 1946) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and producer, known primarily for his recordings with the soul and funk band Maze. Beverly formed Maze, originally called Raw Soul, in his ...

(born 1946), American soul/funk singer-songwriter *

Gerald Beverly Gerald Leon Beverly (born November 18, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for Iwate Big Bulls of the Japanese B3 League. He played college basketball for the Daemen Wildcats. College career Beverly played four seasons at Daemen ...

, (born 1993) American basketball player *

Harry Beverley (rugby league, born 1907) Harry Beverley (birth registered third ¼ 1907 – 1982) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s, and coached in the 1950s and 1960s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, England, Br ...

, rugby league footballer of the 1930s and 1940s *

Harry Beverley (rugby league, born 1947) Harry Beverley (11 April 1947 – 29 March 2022) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level for England and Yorkshire, and at club level for Dewsbury, Workington To ...

, rugby league footballer of the 1970s and 1980s * Hattie Beverly, (1874–1904) African-American school teacher *

Henry Roxby Beverley Henry Roxby Beverley (1790 – 1 February 1863) was an English actor and low comedian. Biography He was the son of an actor named Beverley, at one time of Covent Garden Theatre, and subsequently manager of the house in Tottenham Street, know ...

(1790–1863), English actor *

James R. Beverley James Rumsey Beverley (June 15, 1894 – June 17, 1967) was a United States lawyer and politician, appointed as attorney general of Puerto Rico, serving 1927 to 1932. During this period, he was appointed as acting governor of Puerto Rico in 1929 ...

(1894–1967), United States lawyer *

Jo Beverley Mary Josephine Beverley (née Dunn; 22 September 1947 – 23 May 2016) was a prolific English-Canadian writer of historical and contemporary romance novels from 1988 to 2016. Her works are regarded as well researched, filled with historical de ...

(1947–2016), British novelist *

Nick Beverley Nicholas Gerald Beverley (born April 21, 1947) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach. Beverley played over 500 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) and later coached in both the NHL and American Hockey League (AHL). ...

(born 1947), former Canadian National Hockey League player and head coach *

Patrick Beverley Patrick Beverley (born July 12, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Arkansas Razorbacks before spending three and a half ...

(born 1988), American basketball player *

Peter Beverley Peter Beverley (1663 – 1728) was an English-born planter and lawyer who served as the 27th speaker of the House of Burgesses as well as treasurer of the Colony of Virginia (1710-1723). His father Robert Beverley had been the clerk of the ...

(c. 1668 – 1728), Virginia colonial politician, Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses *

Robert Beverley Jr. Robert Beverley Jr. (1667April 21, 1722) was a historian of early colonial Virginia, as well as a planter and politician. Early and family life Beverley was born in Jamestown, the second of three sons of the widow Mary Keeble and her second hus ...

(1673–1722), American historian *

Trazana Beverley Trazana Beverley is an American stage and film actress as well as a lecturer in acting. She received a BFA in Acting from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She was the first African-American actress to receive a Tony Award for "Bes ...

, American actress *

William Beverley William Beverley (1696–1756) was an 18th-century legislator, civil servant, planter and landowner in the Colony of Virginia. Born in Virginia, Beverley—the son of planter and historian Robert Beverley, Jr. (c. 1667–1722) and his wife, Ursul ...

(1696–1756), American legislator, civil servant, planter, and landowner

Fictional characters

*Beverly Bighead, one of the supporting characters in ''

Rocko's Modern Life ''Rocko's Modern Life'' is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the surreal life of an anthropomorphic Australian immigrant wallaby named Rocko and his friends: the eccentric steer ...

'' *

Beverly Crusher Beverly Crusher is a fictional character in the '' Star Trek'' franchise played by Gates McFadden. Debuting in the television series, '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', McFadden appeared in every season except for the second, as well as its sp ...

, in the television series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and related media *Beverly Harris, in the sitcom ''

Roseanne ''Roseanne'' is an American sitcom television series created by Matt Williams and Roseanne Barr which aired on ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May 22, 2018. The show stars Barr as Roseann ...

'' *Beverly Hope, a recurring character in the television series '' American Horror Story: Cult'', played by

Adina Porter Adina Elizabeth Porter is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Lettie Mae Thornton on the HBO fantasy horror series ''True Blood'' (2008–2014), Kendra James on the HBO drama series '' The Newsroom'' (2012–2014), and Indra ...

*Beverly Katz, in the novel ''Red Dragon'' and the TV series ''

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

'' *Beverley Leslie, a recurring character ('' Karen Walkers frenemy) in the sitcom ''

Will and Grace Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

'' *Beverly Mantle, one of the identical twin main characters of the movie '' Dead Ringers'', both played by Jeremy Irons *

Beverly Marsh Beverly "Bev" Marsh is a fictional character created by Stephen King and one of the main characters of his 1986 horror novel '' It''. The character is seen as a member of "The Losers Club" and a romantic interest of fellow members Bill Denbrough a ...

, the only female member of the loser's club in Stephen King's novel ''It'' *Beverly Marshall, in the Australian soap opera ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

'' *Beverly Moss, the central character of Mike Leigh's television play ''

Abigail's Party ''Abigail's Party'' is a play for stage and television, devised and directed in 1977 by Mike Leigh. It is a suburban situation comedy of manners, and a satire on the aspirations and tastes of the new middle class that emerged in Britain in the ...

'' *Beverly Weston, in the play '' August: Osage County'' *Beverley Carlton, a character in the play ''

The Man Who Came to Dinner ''The Man Who Came to Dinner'' is a comedy play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted on October 16, 1939, at the Music Box Theatre in New York City, where it ran until 1941, closing after 739 performances. It then enjoyed a number of N ...

'', based on

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

*"B", real name Beverly, from '' Total Drama: Revenge of the Island'' *Beverly, the owl spirit, from ''

Spiritfarer ''Spiritfarer'' is an indie management sim and sandbox action game developed and published by Canadian studio Thunder Lotus Games and released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Android and Sta ...

References

{{Given name, type=both Feminine given names English feminine given names English-language surnames English toponymic surnames Surnames of English origin Surnames of British Isles origin