Etymology & Historical Origin of the Baby Name Beryl

Beryl is an old-fashioned female personal name derived from the name of a precious stone, a mineral of great strength and beauty usually distinguished by its deep-green variety (the emerald) and its transparent bluish-green variety (the aquamarine). The beryl takes its name from a Sanskrit word most likely meaning “crystal” or "cut glass," though the Medieval Latin form berillus was applied to any gem of pale green color, to fine crystal and even to eyeglasses (the first spectacle lenses were perhaps made from beryl). In fact, the root source for the English word “brilliant” comes from the Latin berillare meaning “to shine/sparkle like a beryl.”
 
The beryl stone was described by the Roman author Pliny as “the gem green as the sea” and was considered an emblem of protection for sailors and other adventurers - keeping them from harm's way. Symbolic of purity and believed to incite a cheerful disposition, the beryl stone is also said to be a sharpener of the intellect, a remedy against laziness and a powerful preserver of marital bliss (it has therefore been a gemtone often associated with brides). As a female personal name derived from a gemstone name, Beryl has never been as common as, say, Ruby and Pearl, but this lovely lady did come into general use among English speakers in the late 19th century when gemstone names became highly fashionable.

All About the Baby Name – Beryl

Personality

OF THE GIRL NAME BERYL

The number Eight personality has everything to do with power, wealth and abundance. Somehow, this personality has been blessed on the material plane, but their authoritative and problem-solving traits provide evidence that their good fortunes are not just the luck of the lottery. They are well earned. This is the personality of CEOs and high-ranking military personnel. Eights are intensely active, hard-driving individuals. Success is only meaningful to them after a job well-done.  They are remarkable in their ability to see the larger picture right down to the smallest details, and organize a strategy around success. They then have the ability to direct a group around them toward any goal, and realize individual potential to get the most out of their team.

Popularity

OF THE GIRL NAME BERYL

As mentioned above, Beryl has been used as a female given name since the late 19th century when naming daughters after gemstones came into vogue (cf. Amber, Opal, Pearl and Ruby). Though for whatever reason, this particular piece of jewelry took a trip to the antique cabinet and has yet to be dusted off and used again. Even more modern-day-late-20th-century inspired "jewelry" names like Amethyst, Crystal, Diamond, Gemma, Jade, Jewel and Tiara have Old Beryl beat. Her heyday arrived between 1880 and 1920 - and even still she was only used in moderation. In fact, 1957 is the last year Beryl would claim Top 1000 positioning on the charts which basically means she's completely off the American radar. Case in point: there are currently over 10,000 baby girl names more popular than Beryl today - and Beryl was only dispensed to a mere 10 baby girls in 2013. No one is using this name anymore. And what a shame! Looking for an antique charmer that's totally ignored by today's parents? Look no further than the "brilliant" Beryl!

Quick Facts

ON BERYL

GENDER:

Girl

ORIGIN:

English

NUMBER OF SYLLABLES:

2

RANKING POPULARITY:

N/A

PRONUNCIATION:

BER-əl

SIMPLE MEANING:

Brilliant

Characteristics

OF BERYL

Authoritative

Powerful

Tough

Tenacious

Wealthy

Problem-solver

Achiever

Cultural References to the Baby Name – Beryl

Literary Characters

OF THE BABY NAME BERYL

We cannot find any significant literary characters by the name of Beryl

Childrens Books

ON THE BABY NAME BERYL

We cannot find any childrens books with the first name Beryl


Popular Songs

ON BERYL

We cannot find any popular or well-known songs with the name of Beryl


Famous People

NAMED BERYL

Beryl Reid (British actress)
Beryl Cook (British artist)
Beryl Grey (British ballet dancer)
Beryl Markham (British-born Kenyan aviator)

Children of Famous People

NAMED BERYL

We cannot find any children of famous people with the first name Beryl

Historic Figures

WITH THE NAME BERYL

We cannot find any historically significant people with the first name Beryl