Explore the Family Name Bey
The meaning of Bey
1. North German and Dutch: from the personal name Beye or Baye, vowel variants of Boye. 2. Germanized form of Sorbian Baj: nickname or occupational name from Upper Sorbian baj ‘storyteller’. Compare Bay. 3. French: habitational name from (Le) Bey, the name of several places in eastern France, in Ain, Meurthe-et-Moselle, or Saône-et-Loire. 4. French (Burgundy): topographic name for someone who lived by a mill stream, from a regional variant of bief ‘mill-race’. 5. Muslim (mainly Algeria, also common among African Americans): from the Turkish title bey, a younger form of beg (see Beg), denoting a nobleman serving as a local administrator in the Ottoman Empire. It was also a high military rank in the Ottoman army and also widely used as a title of respect for a man (after a man’s name). See also 6 below, Agha, and Pasha. 6. Turkish: ornamental name or nickname from bey, a Turkish title (see 5 above). Some characteristic forenames: Arabic/Muslim Mohammed, Abdullah, Dawoud, Fatima, Jamaal, Rasheedah, Shakoor, Zaib, Aisha, Akil, Ameen, Aminah.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Bey in the United States?
Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Bey has seen a slight increase between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Bey ranked 6510 in popularity among all surnames in the U.S., but by 2010 it had risen to 6265, marking a change of 3.76 percent. The number of people carrying the Bey surname also grew during this period, increasing from 4809 in 2000 to 5453 in 2010, demonstrating a rise of 13.39 percent. This data reinforces that the proportion of individuals with the Bey surname per 100,000 population also increased from 1.78 to 1.85 over the same decade.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #6,510 | #6,265 | 3.76% |
| Count | 4,809 | 5,453 | 13.39% |
| Proportion per 100k | 1.78 | 1.85 | 3.93% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Bey
The Decennial U.S. Census data also gives insight into the ethnicity of individuals with the Bey surname. Between 2000 and 2010, there was an increase in the percentage of Beys who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic, and American Indian and Alaskan Native, with the most significant growth coming from the last group (202.70 percent). Meanwhile, those identifying as White or having two or more ethnic identities saw decreases of 13.38 and 41.42 percent respectively. By 2010, the largest ethnic identity among the Beys was Black at 64.07 percent, followed by White at 21.29 percent and Hispanic at 5.68 percent.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 60.18% | 64.07% | 6.46% |
| White | 24.58% | 21.29% | -13.38% |
| Hispanic | 3.95% | 5.68% | 43.8% |
| Two or More Races | 8.57% | 5.02% | -41.42% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 2.35% | 2.81% | 19.57% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.37% | 1.12% | 202.7% |
Bey ancestry composition
23andMe computes an ancestry breakdown for each customer. People may have ancestry from just one population or they may have ancestry from several populations. The most commonly-observed ancestry found in people with the surname Bey is Nigerian, which comprises 23.1% of all ancestry found in people with the surname. The next two most common ancestries are British & Irish (21.6%) and Ghanaian, Liberian & Sierra Leonean (13.8%). Additional ancestries include French & German, Angolan & Congolese, Senegambian & Guinean, Spanish & Portuguese, and Eastern European.
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| ANCESTRY BREAKDOWN | COMPOSITION |
|---|---|
| Nigerian | 23.1% |
| British & Irish | 21.6% |
| Ghanaian, Liberian & Sierra Leonean | 13.8% |
| Other | 41.6% |
Possible origins of the surname Bey
Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.
Based on 23andMe data, people with last name Bey have recent ancestry locations all within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
| RECENT ANCESTRY Location | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Glasgow City, United Kingdom | 41.40% |
| Greater London, United Kingdom | 41.40% |
| Greater Manchester, United Kingdom | 40.60% |
| Merseyside, United Kingdom | 39.90% |
| West Yorkshire, United Kingdom | 38.30% |
What Bey haplogroups can tell you
Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.
The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname Bey is E-P252, which is predominantly found among people with Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Haplogroup E-P252 is descended from haplogroup E-M96. Other common haplogroups include E-M4254 and R-CTS241, which are predominantly found among people with Sub-Saharan African and European ancestry. Other surnames with similar common haplogroups are: Gooden, Pierre, Washington, Muhammad, Jefferson, Battle, Goins, Francois, Mccray, Alston.
The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Bey surname are: H1, H, L2a1. These most commonly trace back to individuals of European and Sub-Saharan African ancestry.
Paternal Haplogroup Origins E-M96
Your paternal lineage may be linked to Ramesses III
Pharaoh Ramesses III defended Egypt in three consecutive wars during his approximately 30-year reign, but provoked dissent within his administration. Catalyzed by mounting internal strife, one of Ramesses's lesser wives, Tiye, hatched a plot to have her son, Pentawer, usurp the throne by having Ramesses III murdered along with his appointed heir. A papyrus record of the resulting trial explains that the plot failed and that all involved were tried and convicted.However, a modern CT scan of Ramesses III's mummy revealed a deep slit in his throat, reopening a case long thought closed. The embalmers went to great lengths to cover up other wounds, including fashioning a fake toe out of resin where Ramesses's real one had been hacked off, likely during a fatal attack. For thousands of years, Ramesses's burial adornments concealed the wounds that mark one of the most famous royal dramas in history. Ramesses III's paternal lineage belongs to haplogroup E-V38.
Your maternal lineage may be linked to Marie Antoinette
Because it is so dominant in the general European population, haplogroup H also appears quite frequently in the continent's royal houses. Marie Antoinette, an Austrian Hapsburg who married into the French royal family, inherited the haplogroup from her maternal ancestors. So did Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, whose recorded genealogy traces his female line to Bavaria. Scientists also discovered that famed 16th century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus traced his maternal lineages to haplogroup H.
What do people with the surname Bey have in common?
Spoiler alert: it's complicated. People with the same last name are usually no more genetically similar than a randomly sampled group of people from the same population. That said, people with the same surname are more likely to have similar ancestries than randomly sampled individuals. The reason is the tendency of people with similar cultural or geographical backgrounds to preferentially mate with one another. That's why people who share a surname may be more likely to share traits and tendencies in common than people within the general population. Check out the percentages below to see the prevalences of tastes, habits, and traits of people with your surname compared with prevalences among 23andMe users.
Preferences
Chocolate Ice Cream
Prefers chocolate flavored ice cream over other flavors.
"Bey" Surname 20.8%
23andMe Users 41.3%
Traits
Cheek Dimples
Small indentations that appear on the cheeks when a person smiles.
"Bey" Surname 66.7%
23andMe Users 37.6%
Habits
Kinesthetic Learner
Preferring to learn and process information through hands-on activities, practical experiences, and active engagement.
"Bey" Surname 61.5%
23andMe Users 61.5%
Wellness
Migraine
A severe headache characterized by intense pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
"Bey" Surname 19.1%
23andMe Users 16.4%
Are health conditions linked to the last name Bey?
The short answer is that, if there is an association between surname and health, it's usually more about your ancestry than your name. Individuals with a given surname are no more genetically similar than the general population but often have similar ancestries. The populations of people associated with those shared ancestries often have sets of genetic variations, also known as alleles, in common. Some of those alleles are associated with a greater likelihood of developing certain diseases.
Disease variant frequency by ancestry
Disease allele frequencies in populations associated with the surname Bey are shown below. Important Note: not everyone with a disease allele will develop these health condition