Family name origins & meanings
- English and Irish (of Norman origin) : habitational name from various places in northern France: Beaumais-sur-Dire in Calvados, Beaumetz in Somme, or any of three places called Beaumetz in Pas-de-Calais. They are named in Old French as beu ‘fair’, ‘lovely’ + més ‘dwelling’. Compare Mas. A place called Beamish in County Durham is an Anglo-Norman French place name of the same origin, first mentioned in the 13th century; it is possible that in some cases the surname is from this place.
- Americanized spelling of German Behmisch or Böhmisch, ethnic names for someone from Bohemia (see Bohm).