Beaver Family History

English: habitational name from Belvoir in Leicestershire pronounced beever (/bi:və/) so named with Old French beu bel ‘fair lovely’ + veïr voir ‘to see’ i.e. a place with a fine view. This name may also be derived from any of several places in France called Beauvoir for example in Manche, Somme, and Seine-Maritime, all of which have the same etymology as above.

English: nickname from Middle English bever bevre (Old English beofor) ‘beaver’ possibly referring to a hard worker or from some other fancied resemblance to the animal. The existence of patronymic forms such as Beaverson suggest that this may also have been a personal name.

Native American (Creek): from a translation into English of the Muscogee Creek clan name Echaswvlke (‘Beaver clan’) derived from a word meaning ‘beaver’. Native American: translation into English (and shortening) of any other personal name based on a word such as Cheyenne homa'e meaning ‘beaver’.

The importance of the beaver to Native Americans is reflected in their traditional personal names, some of which were adopted as surnames (translated into English) e.g. Beaver Heart (in Cheyenne Homa'ehesta; see also Hart).

Americanized form (translation into English) of cognates of 2 above in other languages in particular Dutch Bever and German Bieber.