Beatrice (given name)
![]() Dante Gabriel Rossetti's depiction of Dante's Beatrice in Beata Beatrix | |
Gender | Female |
---|---|
Origin | |
Word/name | Latin |
Meaning | "bringer of joy, blessings" |
Other names | |
Related names | Beatrix, Béatrice, Beatriz |
Beatrice (/ˈbiː(ə)trɪs/; Italian: [beaˈtriːtʃe])[1] is a name derived from the French name Béatrice, which came from the Latin Beatrix, which means "she who makes happy".[2]
Beatrice is the Italian language variant. The French form is Béatrice, and the Spanish and Portuguese form is Beatriz.
The popularity of the name 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)
- Beatha (Irish)
- Beatrica (Croatian, Slovakian)
- Béatrice (French)
- Beatrice (Italian)
- Beatričė (Lithuanian)
- Beatrijs (Dutch)
- Beatrika (Slovene)
- Βεατρίκη (Veatriki) (Greek)
- Beatris (English)
- Beatrisa (Latvian)
- Beatrise (Latvian)
- Beatriss (English)
- Beatriu (Catalan)
- Beatrix (Dutch, English, German, Hungarian, Latin)
- Béatrix (French)
- Beatriz (Galician, Portuguese, Spanish)
- Beatrycze (Polish)
- Beitris (Scottish Gaelic)
- Betrys (Welsh)
Short forms include
- Bea (Dutch, English, German, Galician, Spanish, Catalan)
- Béa (French)[citation needed]
- Beah (English)[citation needed]
- Beasie (English)
- Beat (English, Polish)[citation needed]
- Beatie (English)[citation needed]
- Beato (English)[citation needed]
- Bee (English)
- Bia (Portuguese)
- Bice (Italian)[citation needed]
- Trix (Dutch, English)
- Trixi (English, German)
- Trixie (English)
- Trixy (English)
- Tris (English)
People
Artists and entertainers
Actresses
- Beatrice Alda (born 1961), American actress and filmmaker
- Bea Arthur (1922–2009), American actress who starred in The Golden Girls
- Beatrice Boepple (born 1962), American actress
- Beatrice Colen (1948–1999), American actress
- Bebe Neuwirth (born 1958), American actress best known for playing Lilith on Frasier and Cheers
- Beatrice Roberts (1905–1970), American actress
- Beatrice Winde (1924–2004), American actress
Other
- 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
- Béatrice Poulot (born 1968), French singer from Réunion
- Beatrice (singer), singer in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999
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 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 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
- Beatrice of Ornacieux (c. 1240–c. 1308), French religious leader
Scientists, engineers and academics
- Beatrice M. Hinkle (1874–1953), American pioneering feminist, psychoanalyst and writer
- 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 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
Miscellaneous
- Beatrice Portinari (1265–1290), great love and muse of poet Dante Alighieri
- Beatrice Beeby (1904–1991), New Zealand educator
- 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 Divina Commedia
- 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
- 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 "Beezus" Quimby from the children's novel Beezus and Ramona
- 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 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 from the film Hoot
- Beatrice Scarlet, heroine of "Scarlet Widow' and "The Coven' novels by Graham Masterton
See also
- Beatrijs, a 13th-century Dutch poem about a nun with this name
- All pages with titles beginning with Beatrice
References
- ^ Random House Unabridged Dictionary
- ^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Beatrice
- ^ 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
- ^ http://www.behindthename.com/top/lists/romania/2009
External links
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