Topics

• About the Beasley One-Name Study
• Variants
• Origin of the surname
• Data
• DNA project
• Links
• Contact Details

About the Beasley One-Name Study

This Surname project is headlined with 'Beasley', the most common spelling of of the homonym.

Variants

There are four variants that placed more than 100 instances in the 2000 US census. In order of prevalence is Beesley, closely followed by Beazley. Far rarer is my spelling, Beezley, while Beesly barely makes the list. The variants hold true as far as I can tell outside the US, except that I'm not sure Beesly makes the list elsewhere.

Origin of the surname

All indications are that the name originated in England. So far, I have found very little evidence of spontaneous origination outside of England. There are some variations of the meaning, but the easiest and most common that I have seen is 'bees meadow' or 'meadow of the bees.'

Data

Most of the work I have done personally so far is with Beezley's in the US. That record is becoming quite extensive. We have identified two major lines that probably account for at least 80% and probably 90% of the living Beezley's in the US. These lines are well developed and proven distinct by DNA testing.

DNA project

We have a DNA project under the name Beasley that includes all variants. We have identified several larger groupings, each including all spellings. Spelling variations are rather constant after 1800. Most lines in the US appear to have originated during the colonial period.

Links

The formal FTDNA project website is at http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/beasley/home.

The publicly viewable site is at http://beasleygenealogy.net. Additional material is available to registered users.

A subdivision specializing in comprehensive data for Beezley is at http://project.beezley.net.

My own personal site including all my family lines is at http://genealogy.beezley.net

And my general family site is at http://beezley.net

Contact details

For further information, contact:

Mr Douglas Beezley
1990 20th Street,
Gering,
Nebraska
NE 69341
USA
E-mail:
Telephone: 308-436-7476

This page last updated 13 January 2012.

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Profiles of other one-name studies registered with the Guild may be found here.