This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'at the beck,' from residence beside the beck, a running stream, a small rivulet, a word still in common use in the North. 'Bek watyr, rendylle, rivulus, torrens': Promptorium Parvulorum.

Richerus del Bek, Close Rolls, 55 Henry III.

William en le Bee, Lincolnshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Ricardus del Bek', 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

Robert atte Bek, Close Rolls, 19 Richard II.

William atte Beck, temp. 1300. Writs of Parliament.

'Robert atte Bek and Maud his wife held lands here (Beck-Hall) in the 33rd of Edward III': History of Norfolk.

1624. Alexander Shancke and Catherine Becke: Marriage Lic (London).

1759. Married — Joseph Beck and Catherine Andrews: St. George, Hanover Square.

Of local origin from some small place of the name probably in Dumfriesshire. There is a Beckfoot (a burn mouth) and Beckton in Dumfriesshire. Thomas del Beck was juror on an inquisition in Lochmaben in 1347 (Bain, III, 1499), and Thomas de Bek was a tenant of the earl of Douglas in Glenwaldy in the barony of Prestoune, 1376 (RHM., I, p. LXI). John Beck in Balmaclaill (Galloway) found caution for his indemnity in 1627 (RPC., 2. ser. II, p. 69), and John Beck, cordiner at Bridgend of Dumfries in 1683 and six more of the name are recorded in the Dumfries Register of Testaments, 1624—1800. The name is also found in the Commissariot Record of Kirkcudbright in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and in the Edinburgh Marriage Records.

BECC: An old Gaelic personal name from the root seen in Gaelic beuc, 'roar.' Becc, grandson of Duncan, was slaughtered in 707 A. II (AU.; Skene, CS., I, p. 273). Dunchad Becc, 'king of Kintyre,' was victor in the naval battle of Arndde-anesbi fought in 719 A.D. and died in 721 (Tighernac),,. A diminutive of the name also occurs in Tighernach under the year 676, where the death of Beccan Ruimean, 'Beccan (of the island) of Rum,' is recorded.

(Anglo-Scand.) Dweller at a Brook. [Middle English bek, Old English bec(c-Old Norse bekk-r] Richerus del Bek.—Close Rolls. Robert atte Bek.— do.

(French) the French Bec, Becq, Becque - (a) Beak, Mouth (a nickname). [French bec, beak (in Norm. Dialectal, mouth); of Gaulish orig.] (b) Brook. [Old Norse bekk-r] Rouen est traversé par un ruisseau qui se jette dans la Seine et qu’on appelle le Robec. -—Cocheris, Noms de Lieu, p. 14. Cp. also the French surnames Dubec, Dubecq.

(Teutonic) the Old Teutonic pers. name Becca, Becco. [cp. Old English becca-mattock] Ætla weöld Hunum, Attila ruled the Huns, Eormanric Gotum, Eormanric the Goths, Becca Baningum. Becca the Banings.

The Scóp’s Tale, 37-9.

(Ger.) Baker.

(Ger.) Baker [Dialectal Ger. beck, Middle High German becke, O.H.Ger. becko]

(1) “Baker” in Old German. (2) Also “Brook” in Old English.

(Norwegian, English, German, Swedish, Icelandic) Dweller at, or near, the brook of stream; brook.

Teutonic becc. A rivulet or small stream, in various dialects of England. Bee in Normandy gave name to a baronial race, and a Flemish family of Bee, wholly unconnected with them, held Eresby and other manors at the time of the Domesd. survey. Gent. Mag., Jan., 1832.

(Anglo—Saxon.) Local From becc, a brook.

(E. and D.), Brook. Beckmann (German), Brook-man.

From the Old Norse, Bekan; from the Dutch, Swedish or German, from the Dutch, Beck; from the Flemish, Baeck; personal name Or from Bec-Hellouin; a location name in Normandy Beke on the Roll of Battell Abbey. De Bee a tenant in chief, Walter Bec at the time of the Survey, in the Domesday Book, Bec and Bek in Rotuli de Oblatis et Finibus, King John

Beck: (Anglo-Saxon bec), a brook; the German bach. “Beck” is still in common use in the North of England, as Kirkbeck, Holbeck. “Beckett” is a small beck. Gilbert-a-Becket took his name from Bec in Normandy, named from “bec” or brook hard by the monastery.