Beattie
A Scottish surname that likely began as a pet form of the female name Beatrice/Beatrix, though some Irish bearers may have a different origin.
The #3,955 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 34,332 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The best-attested explanation in older surname dictionaries is that Beattie is a Scottish pet form of the feminine name Beatrice, ultimately from Latin Beatrix, meaning “blessed” or “she who makes happy.” In that sense it began as a matronymic surname, built from a mother’s or ancestor’s given name rather than a father’s. Some later writers also suggested that certain Irish Beattie or Beatty families may be connected with Irish Betagh, but that is a separate proposal and not the main Scottish derivation.
History
Beattie is especially associated with Lowland Scotland and northern England, where pet-name forms often hardened into hereditary surnames. Historical dictionaries also note spelling variants such as Beatty, Beattie, Beattiey, and the reversed-initial form Peattie. Because the surname spread into English-speaking areas, several different origins may have converged under the same spelling.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname writers specifically called Beattie a “female-name” surname, which makes it a neat example of a matronymic that survived as a family name.
From the historical record
“see. BEATTIE. An "abbreviation of the female name Beatrix." Jamieson. See Female Christian Names which have be- come Surnames. BEAU. Fr. Fine, handsome. BEAUCHAMP. This illustrious name is found in many countries of Europe — e. g. in France as Bcauchamp, in Scotland as”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom