Beck (surname)

Beck is a surname of Germanic descent, meaning "brook" or "stream" (related to Old Norse bekkr), and is fairly common in English-speaking countries, Germany and Denmark. The German name can also be a variant of Becker, which is an occupational surname meaning "baker." In Hebrew, it exists as an abbreviated form of B'nei Kiddoshim ("sons of the martyrs"). Notable people with this surname include:

• Aaron T. Beck, founder of modern cognitive therapy
• Adam Beck (1857–1925), Canadian politician and hydro-electricity advocate
• András Beck (1911–1985), Hungarian sculptor
• Andreas Beck (footballer), German football player
• Andreas Beck (tennis), German tennis player
• Audrey P. Beck (1931-1983), American educator and politician
• Bill Beck (1900–1965), American college sports coach
• C. C. Beck, American cartoonist
• Charlie Beck – appointed Police Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department
• Christophe Beck, Canadian composer for film and TV, most notable for his work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Claude Beck (1894–1971), American cardiac surgeon who invented the defibrillator
• Clifford W. Beck, American politician
• Corey Beck (born 1971), American basketball player
• Dr. Beck, named taken by the Count de Werdinsky (1803–1856)
• Edward S. Beck (born 1946) Head, Susquehanna Institute, President, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
• Franz Ignaz Beck, German classical composer
• Gad Beck (1923-2012), German educator, author, activist, and survivor of the Holocaust
• George Beck (artist), artist and poet
• Gina Beck, English actress and singer
• Glenn Beck (actor), Canadian actor
• Glenn Beck, American conservative radio/TV talk show host and comedian
• Günther von Mannagetta und Lërchenau Beck, German botanist
• Hans Beck (1929–2009), German inventor
• Harry Beck (footballer)
• Harry Beck, designer of the London Underground map
• Jakob Sigismund Beck, German philosopher
• James M. Beck (1861–1936), United States Solicitor General and US Congressman from Pennsylvania
• Jeff Beck (born 1944), British electric guitarist
• John Beck (actor) (born 1943), American actor
• John Beck (American football player), NFL player and former BYU quarterback
• John Beck (footballer), British football manager
• John Brodhead Beck, 19th-century United States physician
• Jonathan Mock Beck (1935–2006), American mathematician
• Joko Beck, an American Zen teacher
• Józef Beck, Polish diplomat and military officer, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland (1932-1939)
• Jozsef Beck, a mathematician
• Justin Beck, American guitarist
• Karol Beck, Slovakian tennis player
• Kent Beck, major proponent of Extreme Programming
• Kimberly Beck (born 1956), American actress
• Kristin Beck
• Kurt Beck, German politician
• Laetitia Beck (born 1992), Israeli golfer
• Lewis Caleb Beck, 19th-century United States naturalist and physician
• Ludwig Beck, German general and participant in the failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler
• Michael Beck (born 1949), American actor
• Mikkel Beck, Danish ex professional football player
• Paul W. Beck, American military aviation pioneer
• Robert Beck, alias of African American writer Iceberg Slim
• Robert Beck, alias of former D-12 rapper Karnail Pitts
• Robert Nason Beck, pioneer radiologist
• Robin Beck (born 1954), American singer
• Rod Beck (1968–2007), former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball
• Rollo Beck (1870–1950), American bird collector
• Shayla (née Osborn) Beck, American musical theatre actress
• Theodore Beck, first principal of the MAO College at Aligarh, India
• Theodric Romeyn Beck, forensic scientist
• Peter Beck (cleric) (born c. 1948/1949), dean of ChristChurch Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand
• Peter Beck (politician) (born 1952), politician from Ohio
• Rick Beck (born 1956), member of the Arkansas House of Representatives
• Ulrich Beck, German sociologist
• W. Raymond Beck, former member of Maryland House of Delegates

Fictional characters

• Martin Beck, fictional Swedish police detective created by Sjöwall and Wahlöö

See also

• Verbeek