Family name origins & meanings
- English and French : nickname for a handsome man (perhaps also ironically for an ugly one), from Old French beu, bel ‘fair’, ‘lovely’ (Late Latin bellus).
- Hungarian (Bél) : from the old secular Hungarian name Bél, or alternatively from bél ‘internal part’, probably an occupational name for a servant who worked in the household.
- Czech (Běl) from Czech bílý ‘white’.