Beverly
Beverly was the 1018th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 246 babies. Its best year was 1937, when it ranked 14th; the most babies were born in 1953 (11,240). Over the last ten years it has moved up 462 places. More babies were named Beverly in the 1950s than in any other decade.
Meaning beaver stream (place name) · English, Old English
Say it BEV-er-lee /ˈbɛvɚli/
- Rank in 2025
- #1,018 girls, up 249 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 246girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 195311,240 babies
- Total since 1880
- 383,193babies recorded
What does the name Beverly mean?
Beverly is a spelling of Beverley, a town in Yorkshire, as Wiktionary notes. The place name is usually explained as Old English beofor 'beaver' plus a word for a stream or lake. It became an English surname and then a given name, first for boys and then, in the US, mostly for girls, popular from the 1930s to the 1950s partly because of the 1904 novel Beverly of Graustark and the upscale image of Beverly Hills.
beofor (Old English, “beaver”)
How sure is this? Probable. The second element of the place name is uncertain.
See also: English names, names that mean an animal, names from places.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Beverly', Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- Wiktionary, entry 'Beverley', Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
Nicknames for Beverly
The usual nicknames for Beverly are Bev.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bev | Traditional | — | — |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Beverlys go by each one.
Beverly popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 4,632 since 1880.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #1,018 | 246 |
| 2020 | #1,267 | 177 |
| 2010 | #2,011 | 99 |
| 2000 | #1,114 | 183 |
| 1990 | #524 | 456 |
| 1980 | #334 | 721 |
| 1970 | #150 | 2,248 |
| 1960 | #60 | 7,392 |
| 1950 | #31 | 10,503 |
| 1940 | #27 | 8,657 |
| 1930 | #34 | 6,455 |
| 1920 | #207 | 940 |
| 1910 | #543 | 56 |
| 1900 | #1,057 | 13 |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Beverly, counting every spelling?
Beverly is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #927 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #1,018 for Beverly on its own. Together these spellings went to 266 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beverly | 246 | #1,018 | 1,102 |
| Beverley | 12 | #8,445 | 52 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Beverly?
246 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Beverly (0.07 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Beverly born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 34 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Beverly.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Beverly?
About 213,400 people born in the US named Beverly are alive today, with a median age of 72; half are between 65 and 79. That makes Beverly a name most people associate with older generations.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Beverly by state
How common Beverly was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Minnesota (1.6×), Michigan (1.5×). In 19 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Beverly: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Beverly, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Beverly · Sibling names for Beverly
Questions about the name Beverly
What does Beverly mean?
Beverly means “beaver stream (place name)” (English, Old English origin). Certainty: probable.
How popular is the name Beverly?
Beverly was the 1018th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 246 babies. Its best year was 1937, when it ranked 14th; the most babies were born in 1953 (11,240). Over the last ten years it has moved up 462 places. More babies were named Beverly in the 1950s than in any other decade.
Is Beverly a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Beverly in the US.
Where is Beverly most popular?
In 2021–2025, Beverly was most common in South Dakota (0.42 per 1,000 girls), followed by Maine and New Hampshire.