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Name Origin of Beasley

Last Updated on Tuesday, 17 August 2010 09:39 Written by David B. Beasley Saturday, 20 June 2009 14:34

“The family name Beasley is an interesting example of the evolutionary nature of names.  It is a variant spelling of Beesley and is a place name derived from the combination of ‘bees’ and ‘ley’ (woods).

Due to its place name component, this surname is far more likely to have derived from the bearers place of residence, rather that from the beekeeping trade.  Lacking sugarcane and sugar beets, the medieval British often used honey from sweetening.

Although the art of beekeeping was long known and practice, wild honey was often harvested by rural people from nearly, ‘bee woods’.  An inhabitant of a cottage near the ‘bees ley’ might be referred to by neighbors as ‘atte bees ley’, following a personal name.

During the period of transition to hereditary surnames many people simply adopted the name of the place in which they resided or were associated with.  This was especially true for members of the peasantry, who rarely had a special skill to distinguish them from others with the same Christian name. 

Place names, like the family name Beasley, comprise the largest class, of the four classes of name origin presently in use by genealogists.  The four classes of origin are: place names (Woods, Rivers), relationship (Jackson, Walters), occupation (Mason, Goldsmith), and nicknames (Short, Dolittle).”