2000
#2,822
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 11,631
First available Census row
Per 100,000 4.31
Uncommon Last name
Beverly
A locational surname referring to the bearer's place of origin near a beaver stream or meadow.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 13,113 Americans carry the last name Beverly. That puts it at #3,062 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 3.83 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 26,139 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Beverly surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Beverly with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
13K
1 in 26,139
Census rank
#3,062
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
3.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
11K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 11,435 bearers of the surname Beverly in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 3.83 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 3062nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Beverly, the largest self-reported group is White at 46.8%. The next largest groups are Black (43.4%) and Two or More Races (5.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Beverly
Among Census respondents with the surname Beverly, the largest self-reported group is White at 46.8%. The next largest groups are Black (43.4%) and Two or More Races (5.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Beverly bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Beverly surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.8% · 5,355
- Black or African American43.4% · 4,961
- Two or more races5.5% · 629
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 383
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 54
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 53
Timeline
Historical Census data for Beverly
Beverly appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#2,992
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 11,978
+347 bearers (+3.0%)
Per 100,000 4.06
Rank movement Down 170 places
2020
#3,062
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 11,435
-543 bearers (-4.5%)
Per 100,000 3.83
Rank movement Down 70 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,822 | 11,631 | 4.31 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,992 | 11,978 | 4.06 | +347 bearers (+3.0%) | Down 170 places |
| 2020 | #3,062 | 11,435 | 3.83 | -543 bearers (-4.5%) | Down 70 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Beverly surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #2,992 | #3,062 | -2.3% |
| Count | 11,978 | 11,435 | -4.5% |
| Per 100K | 4.06 | 3.83 | -5.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Beverly bearers went from 11,978 to 11,435 (-4.5% change). The surname moved down 70 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,992 to #3,062.
FAQ
Beverly surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Beverly?
Name Census estimates that about 13,113 living Americans carry the surname Beverly. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 26,139 residents.
How common is Beverly?
Beverly ranks #3,062 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 3.83 per 100,000 residents, which is about 4 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 11,435 people with the surname Beverly. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (13,113), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 3.83 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 3.83 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 4 of them to have the surname Beverly.
Has Beverly become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Beverly went from 11,978 recorded bearers to 11,435. That is a decrease of 543 (-4.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,992 to #3,062.
What does the Census say about the background of Beverly?
Among Census respondents with the surname Beverly, the largest self-reported group is White at 46.8%. The next largest groups are Black (43.4%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Beverly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.8% (5,355 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Beverly appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (46.8%), Black (43.4%), Two or More Races (5.5%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Beverly (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Beverly mean?
A locational surname referring to the bearer's place of origin near a beaver stream or meadow. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Beverly (3.83 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How common is the surname Beverly?
Find out how many people are called Beverly on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.