Geneanet > Resources > Family Names > BECK

Origin and popularity of the name BECK

Origin

Beck : 1: English: topographic name for someone who lived beside a stream from northern Middle English bekke ‘stream’ (Old Norse bekkr).2: English (of Norman origin): habitational name from any of various places in northern France named Bec for example Bec Hellouin in Eure named with Old Norman French bec ‘stream’ from the same Old Norse root as in 1 above.3: English: from the Middle English personal name Becke (Old English Becca or Beocca) of uncertain origin.4: English: probably a nickname for someone with a prominent nose from Middle English bek bekke ‘beak (of a bird)’ (Old French bec).5: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a baker a cognate of Becker from (older) South German beck West Yiddish bek ‘baker’. Some Jewish bearers of the name claim that it is an acronym of Hebrew ben-kedoshim ‘son of martyrs’ i.e. a name taken by one whose parents had been martyred for being Jews. The German surname is also found in France (mainly Alsace and Lorraine) Hungary Czechia Slovakia and Croatia. Compare Bek 1.6: North German and Dutch: topographic name for someone who lived by a stream from Low German beke Dutch beck ‘stream’. Compare the High German form Bach 1 and Dutch Bek 6.7: Danish and Norwegian: habitational name from a farmstead named Bekk Bæk or Bäck from Old Norse bekkr ‘stream brook’ denoting a farm by a stream.8: Swedish: variant of Bäck (see Back). This surname may also be of German origin (see above).9: Americanized or Germanized form of Polish Rusyn Czech Croatian or Slovenian Bek in the last two languages a cognate of the German name in 5 above.

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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England

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Last name frequency

Geographic distribution of the 301,197 individuals with the name BECK on Geneanet.

 

Most found places for the name BECK:

    This last name in the family trees

    See below the Geneanet members' family trees which contain the last name BECK

    templarknight7777
    (1,900 individuals)
    cartercousins2022
    (1,839 individuals)
    birggerard1
    (1,681 individuals)
    kurtgrathwohl
    (1,487 individuals)

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    Variants of name BECK

    de BECK DEBECK de BEC BEKE