30,146 Global BEVAN Family Members

BEVAN Family History

This surname has Welsh patronymic origins and derives from the phrase 'ap Evan', 'ab Evan' and, as per the Welsh spelling, 'ap/ab Ifan' which all mean 'son of Evan'.

Hereditary surnames only started to emerge in Wales between the 16th and 19th centuries, depending on which part of the country a family lived and on the family's social status. Over time, amongst some families the phrase 'ap/ab Evan' was contracted to Bevan or the related variations Beavan, Bevin, Bevans, and Bevon, to form a surname. Other families however dropped the 'ap' prefix and used Evan and Evans instead as their hereditary surname. These two groups of surnames however both derive from the name Evan/Ifan and refer back to the personal name of an ancestor who lived some time between the 16th and 19th centuries.

Some early examples of the surname include Elizabeth Bevan who married a John Brook in Mathern, Monmouthshire in 1585; Catherine Beevan who married a Samuel Leech in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire in 1636; and Thomas Bevans, who was prebendary of St. David's diocese in 1680.

For families who are not of Welsh extraction, the Bevan surname may derive from the Flemish personal name Bevenot and Beving.

Although seen throughout Wales, by the mid 19th century, the Bevan surname (along with related spellings) was most commonly seen in the southern half of the country, in particular in Monmouthshire, Glamorgan, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire.

Notable people

• Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960), A Welsh Labour politician who was born in Tredegar, Monmouthshire. He was a Member of Parliament for Ebbw Vale, and was the Minister of Health in the Labour government between 1945 and 1951 during which time he was tasked with establishing the National Health Service.
• Bridget Bevan, also known as Madame Bevan (1698–1779), a Welsh educationalist and benefactor. Born in Llannewydd, Carmarthenshire, she was the daughter of philanthropist John Vaughan and, in 1721, married Arthur Bevan an MP for Carmarthen. She supported the Circulating Schools of Griffith Jones, Llanddowror – schools which moved from village to village throughout Wales providing education through the medium of Welsh for both children and adults. After Griffith's death in 1761, Madame Bevan took over the management of the schools. Between the founding of the project in 1736 and 1776, 304,475 pupils had been taught in 6,321 schools, meaning that around half the population of Wales had attended a circulating school. It is believed that this scheme led to the nation achieving one of the highest literacy rates in Europe.

 

SOURCES:

1851 census

British Family Names: Their Origin and Meaning (1903) by Henry Barber

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

Dictionary of Welsh Biography, National Library of Wales, https://biography.wales/