Beckham
A locational surname from East or West Beckham in Norfolk, meaning “Beck’s homestead” or “Beck’s village.”
The #3,575 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 30,999 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Beckham is most likely a habitational surname taken from one of the Norfolk villages called East Beckham and West Beckham. The place-name is usually explained as containing a personal name such as Beck or Becca plus Old English hām, meaning a homestead, village, or estate. In that sense, the name originally meant “Beck’s homestead.”
History
The provided sources point to Norfolk as the main early source area, especially through East and West Beckham, though they also note related Beck/De Bek forms in the county. As with many English surnames, people who moved away from their home parish would have carried the place-name as an identifying surname. The surname is now best known in the modern era through widespread English-speaking use.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The Norfolk place-name is one reason Beckham is often grouped with other English surnames ending in -ham, though here the first element is a personal name rather than the common word for “beech.”
From the historical record
“William 'alt the M(__ Eait Beckham, co. Norf. : ibid. p. Ht. 1689. BapL — William. *. Rl.,... Ueadowei: St. Joha Baptist on Wall- brook, p. 17a”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instancesNotable people named Beckham
- David Beckham (b. 1975)
- Victoria Beckham (b. 1974)
- Nicola Peltz (b. 1995)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.