Beatrice (given name)
Beatrice (/ˈbiː(ə)trɪs/; Italian: [beaˈtriːtʃe])[1] is a female given name. The English variant is derived from the French Béatrice, which came from the Latin Beatrix, which means "blessed one".[2]
Gender | Female |
---|---|
Origin | |
Word/name | Latin |
Meaning | "bringer of joy, blessings" |
Other names | |
Related names | Beatrix, Béatrice, Beatriz |
Beatrice is also the Italian language version of Beatrix. The Spanish and Portuguese form is Beatriz. The popularity of Beatrice spread because of Dante Alighieri's poetry about the Florentine woman Beatrice Portinari. Dante presents Beatrice as being worthy of speaking for God, making her a holy individual.[3]
The name is rising in popularity in the United Kingdom. It is also gaining popularity in the United States, where it ranked as the 691st most popular name for baby girls born in 2012. In 2009, it was the 45th most common baby name for girls born in Romania.[4]
Name variants
Alternate versions of the name include
- Beata (Polish, Swedish)
- Beate (German, Norwegian)
- Betha (Irish)
- Beatrica (Croatian, Slovakian)
- Beatriçe (Albanian)
- Béatrice (French)
- Beatrice (Italian)
- Beatričė (Lithuanian)
- Beatrijs (Dutch)
- Beatrika (Slovene)
- Βεατρίκη (Veatriki) (Greek)
- Beatris (English)
- Beatrisa (Latvian)
- Beatrise (Latvian)
- Beatričė (Lithuanian)
- Beatriss (English)
- Beatriu (Catalan)
- Beatrix (Latin)
- Béatrix (French)
- Beatriz (Galician, Portuguese, Spanish)
- Beatrycze (Polish)
- Beitris (Scottish Gaelic)
- Betrys (Welsh)
Short forms include
- Bea (Italian, Dutch, English, German, Galician, Spanish, Catalan)
- Béa (French)
- Beah (English)
- Beasie (English)
- Beat (English, Polish)
- Beatie (English)
- Beato (English)
- Bee (English)
- Betty (Spanish)
- Bia (Portuguese)
- Bice (Italian)
- Trix (Dutch, English)
- Trixi (English, German)
- Trixie (English)
- Trixy (English)
- Tris (English)
Beatrice
Actresses
- Beatrice Alda (born 1961), American actress and filmmaker
- Bea Arthur (1922–2009), American actress and comedian
- Mademoiselle Beatrice, stage name of Marie Beatrice Binda (1839–1878), Italian-born actress in England
- Beatrice Colen (1948–1999), American actress
- Bebe Neuwirth (born 1958), American actress
- Beatrice Roberts (1905–1970), American actress
- Beatrice Rosen (born 1984), French-American actress
- Mrs Patrick Campbell (1865-1940), born Beatrice Rose Stella Tanner, English actress
- Beatrice Winde (1924–2004), American actress
Other
- Beatrice Gjertsen Bessesen (1886–1935), American operatic soprano
- Beatritz de Dia (fl. late 12th century), Provençal poet and musician
- Beatrice Hastings, pen-name of English writer, poet and literary critic Emily Alice Haigh (1879–1943), lover of Modigliani
- Beatrice Partridge (1866 - 1963), English-born New Zealand painter
- Béatrice Poulot (born 1968), French singer from Réunion
- Beatrice Redpath (1886-1937), Canadian poet, short story writer
- Beatrice (singer), singer in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999
- Beatrice Laus (born 2000), Filipino-British singer-songwriter and guitarist
Athletes
- Beatrice Câșlaru (born 1975), Romanian former swimmer
- Beatrice Faumuina (born 1974), New Zealand world champion discus thrower
- Beatrice Jepchumba (born 1983), Kenyan long-distance runner
- Beatrice Lanza (born 1982), Italian triathlete
- Béatrice Mouthon (born 1966), French triathlete
- Beatrice Utondu (born 1969), Nigerian former sprinter
Politicians and public servants
- Beatrice Aitchison (1908–1997), Director of Transportation Research in the Bureau of Transportation of the United States Postal Service
- Beatrice Anna Lewis (suffragette) (1889 - 1976), British suffragette, member of the militant Women's Social and Political Union.
- Béatrice Bellamy (born 1966), French politician
- Beatrice Hall (1921–2018), American politician
- Beatrice Lorenzin (born 1971) Italian politician
- Beatrice Serota, Baroness Serota (1919–2002), British Government minister and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords
- Beatrice Trew (1897-1976), Canadian socialist politician
- Beatrice Wishart (born 1955), British politician
- Beatrice Wright (1910–2003), American-born British politician
Religious figures
- Beatrix or Beatrice (fl. 4th century), Christian martyr; see Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrix
- Saint Beatrice d'Este (1191–1226), Italian Roman Catholic saint
- Beatrice of Silva (1424–1492), Portuguese nun and saint
- Blessed Beatrice of Nazareth (1200-1268), Flemish nun
- Blessed Beatrice of Ornacieux (ca. 1240–1306/1309), French nun and religious leader
Scientists, engineers and academics
- Beatrice M. Hinkle (1874–1953), American pioneering feminist, psychoanalyst and writer
- Beatrice Krauss (1903–1998), American botanist
- Beatrice Rivière, French applied mathematician
- Beatrice Shilling (1909–1990), British aeronautical engineer and motorcyclist
- Beatrice Tinsley (1941–1981), New Zealand astronomer and cosmologist
- Beatrice Webb (1858–1943), English sociologist, economist, socialist, labour historian and social reformer
Aristocrats
- Beatrice of Albon (1161–1228), French Countess of Albon and Dauphine of Viennois
- Beatrice of England (1242–1275), daughter of Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence
- Beatrice of Naples (fl. 1476–1500), queen of Hungary, also known as Beatrix of Aragon
- Beatrice of Portugal (disambiguation)
- Beatrice of Savoy (disambiguation)
- Princess Beatrice (disambiguation)
- Beatrice Plummer, Baroness Plummer (1903–1972), British life peer
- Beatrice Cenci (1577–1599), Italian noblewoman who, with other members of her family, murdered her rapist father
- Beatrice Borromeo (1985), Italian noblewoman and journalist who is currently married to Pierre Casiraghi.
Miscellaneous
- Beatrice Portinari (1265–1290), great love and muse of poet Dante Alighieri
- Beatrice Beeby (1904–1991), New Zealand educator
- Beatrice Green (1894–1927), Welsh labour activist
- Beatrice Laura Goff (1903–1998), American archaeologist and biblical scholar
- Beatrice Warde (1900–1969), American expert on typography
- Beatrice McCartney, Paul McCartney's daughter with Heather Mills
Fictional characters
- Beatrice (inspired by Beatrice Portinari), the guide through Paradise in Dante's Divine Comedy.
- Beatrice, in William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.
- Beatrice Baudelaire, in A Series of Unfortunate Events.
- Beatrice Carbone, one of the cast of characters in A View from the Bridge, a play by Arthur Miller.
- Bia Gunderson, a young female Spix's Macaw character in the 2014 animatied movie Rio 2.
- Beatrice Hotchkiss, in the Nancy Drew: Treasure in the Royal Tower and Nancy Drew: Legend of the Crystal Skull.
- Beatrice "Tris" Prior, the main character in the Divergent series of books and movies.
- Beatrice Rappaccini, title character of Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story Rappaccini's Daughter.
- Beatrice Rumfoord, in Kurt Vonnegut's novel The Sirens of Titan.
- Beatrice Severn, in Graham Greene's novel Our Man in Havana.
- Beatrice, the Dream Demon in the Sony PlayStation roleplaying game Wild Arms 3.
- Beatrice, the Endless and Golden Witch in Umineko no Naku Koro ni.
- Beatrice, in the manga Gunslinger Girl.
- Beatrice (Re:Zero), a character in the light novel series Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World.
- Beatrice Grimaldi, a princess in the television series Gossip Girl.
- Beatrice, a bluebird in the 2014 animated television miniseries Over the Garden Wall.
- Beatrice "The Bear" Leep, from Carl Hiaasen's 2002 novel Hoot and played by Brie Larson in its 2006 film adaptation.
- Beatrice Scarlet, heroine of "Scarlet Widow" and "The Coven" novels by Graham Masterton.
- Beezus "Beezus" Quimby, character in the Ramona Series by Beverly Cleary.
- Beatrice "Bea" Santello, a major character in the 2017 adventure game Night in the Woods.
- Beatrice "Aunt Bee" Taylor - a major character from the 1960s American sitcom The Andy Griffith Show.
- Beatrice "Trixie" Espinoza - secondary character in the TV/streaming series Lucifer.
- Trixie Lulamoon - a character in the animated series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.
- Trixie Tang - a character in the animated series The Fairly OddParents.
See also
References
- Random House Unabridged Dictionary
- "Beatrice | Etymology, origin and meaning of the name beatrice by etymonline".
- Approaches to teaching Dante's Divine comedy. Slade, Carole., Cecchetti, Giovanni, 1922-1998. New York, N.Y.: Modern Language Association of America. 1982. ISBN 0873524780. OCLC 7671339
- "Popular Names in Romania 2009".