The Beckley surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 5,429 people carried this name — #6,291 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 54,300 people counted. That is up 3% from 5,247 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Beckley surname

"Becca's wood or clearing", from Old English personal name Becca + lēah (“wood, clearing”).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Beckley» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a local name, from where the family lived: ‘of Beckley’.

An early record he cites: Thomas de Beckelegh, Oxfordshire, 1273 — Hundred Rolls.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 90 · public domain.

In Argentina’s national register

At least 110 people named Beckley live in Argentina.

RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Santa Fe.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Santa Fe 88
Córdoba 22

RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.

In print

Beckley in American newspapers,
1902–1923.

Newspaper page from The Western News carrying the name Beckley
The Western News 1904-04-27
Newspaper page from The Bozeman Courier carrying the name Beckley
The Bozeman Courier 1923-01-31
Newspaper page from The Kalispell Bee carrying the name Beckley
The Kalispell Bee 1902-11-18

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 54,510 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Beckley in Australian newspapers,
1840s–2000s.

2,766 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Beckley. The most, 566, date from the 1930s. Victoria has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Tasmania, at 2.4 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Victoria 993
New South Wales 481
Tasmania 430
South Australia 337
Queensland 277
Western Australia 229
ACT (Canberra) 16
Northern Territory 3

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Beckley.

Who carried it

People named Beckley,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Alfred Beckley
    Alfred Beckley 1802–1888 · politician
  • Frederick William Kahapula Beckley Sr.
    Frederick William Kahapula Beckley Sr. 1845–1881 · politician
  • Maria Beckley Kahea
    Maria Beckley Kahea 1847–1909
  • George Charles Moʻoheau Beckley
    George Charles Moʻoheau Beckley 1849–1910
  • Jake Beckley
    Jake Beckley 1867–1918 · baseball player
  • William Beckley d. 1438 · monk

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Beckley,
in the records of 5 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States499 records

499 records of the Beckley name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 174
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 131
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 83
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 42
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 30
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 25
  • Sacramento County historic burials 9
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 2
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 2
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Elmer E. Beckley

    Born 1920 in New York. Enlisted 1944 at Fort Dix, New Jersey; driver from Onondaga County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1979, buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, Syracuse, New York.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record George Edward Beckley

    Born 1948; from Potts Camp, Mississippi. U.S. Army, infantryman; killed in action 1970 in Tay Ninh, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Mary Beckley

    Arrived at New York in 1872 aboard the Helvetia from Havre and London, aged 26; servant. From England.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 499 records for Beckley in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia119 records

119 records of the Beckley name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 65
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 26
  • Tasmanian Names Index 14
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 10
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 3
  • Canberra cemetery and marriage records 1
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Sarah Beckley

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Sir Charles Forbes, sailing from London in 1826. Native of London, Middlesex. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1837. Married 1837 in Hobart, Tasmania.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Fred Beckley

    Arrived in Victoria in 1852 aboard the Sydney, aged 36; English.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Joseph S. Beckley

    Carter of Carlton, Victoria; died 1883.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 119 records for Beckley in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

Canada7 records

7 records of the Beckley name in Canada
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 2
  • City of Waterloo (Ontario) cemetery records 2
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 1
  • Ontario immigration records, 1865–1883 1
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Donald William James Beckley

    Buried in 1977 at Parkview Cemetery, Waterloo, Ontario.

    Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Charles Frederick Beckley

    Died 1910; buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, British Columbia.

    City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver.
  3. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record Richard Lavern Beckley

    Died in service in 1946.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Showing 3 of 7 records for Beckley in Canada.

Counts: Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

United Kingdom3 records

3 records of the Beckley name in the United Kingdom War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record F. R. Beckley

    Royal Field Artillery. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  2. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record E. H. Beckley

    Cambridgeshire Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record J. Beckley

    Duke of Wellington's Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

New Zealand2 records

2 records of the Beckley name in New Zealand Christchurch City cemetery records
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Edwin Beckley

    Died 1945, aged 72; buried at Bromley Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Ellen Louisa Beckley

    Died 1936, aged 43; buried at Bromley Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Beckley.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Beckley is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the Beckley volume
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