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My great-grandmother's surname was Beall, pronounced bell, and I just encountered it as a feminine first name. I've had it on the surname board for quite a while with no answers. Any info? Thanks.
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I'm interested in the pronunciation you give! Some time in the late nineteenth century there were two excellent girls' schools in London with two formidable headmestresses called, respectively, Miss Buss and Miss Beale, and the girls apparently used to chant:
Miss Buss and Miss Beale
Cupid's darts do not feel.
How different from us,
Miss Beale and Miss Buss!
Miss Buss and Miss Beale
Cupid's darts do not feel.
How different from us,
Miss Beale and Miss Buss!
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It always puzzled me, too, but I kinda figured it was just a Southern thing (USA). Let's see, she woulda been Texan.
Yahalome :)
Yahalome :)
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Here are some possibilities, all culled from the Oxford English Disctionary:
1. Beall(n) a Shakespearian expression, meaning "that which is or constitutes the whole; the whole being".
2. Beal(n), a now obsolete word meaning "a pustule or boil"
3. Beal(n), a now obsolete word meaning "baker's shovel
4. Beal(n), meaning "The mouth of a (highland) river or valley"
5. Beal(v), meaning "to suppurate, to gather." Still in regular use in Scotland.
Take your pick :)
1. Beall(n) a Shakespearian expression, meaning "that which is or constitutes the whole; the whole being".
2. Beal(n), a now obsolete word meaning "a pustule or boil"
3. Beal(n), a now obsolete word meaning "baker's shovel
4. Beal(n), meaning "The mouth of a (highland) river or valley"
5. Beal(v), meaning "to suppurate, to gather." Still in regular use in Scotland.
Take your pick :)
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