Some people I know in a casual sort of way are having a baby. Specifically, a boy. And even more specifically, a boy who they've announced they've chosen a name for. And that name is "Beveridge."

My reaction to this was, I think, probably the same as most people's: "Beverage? Like a drink?"

"No, no, Beveridge, with 'ridge' at the end. It's a family name."

So I did some research (meaning I typed it up in the search bar on Wikipedia), and in their collection they claim "Beveridge" as a last name for about two dozen people, and a first name for one. There is, as well, such a thing as the Beveridge Report, which we have our very own node on. And a thing called a Beveridge curve, named for the same Beveridge as the report. And a Beveridge Reef, with no notice of who it is named for. The name itself indeed derives from drinking, (or from an island named for drinking) and so is Scottish.

I have some thought that a name like "Beveridge" will stand out in the wrong way amongst the younger set, who in this day and age seem quite given to bullying, as has become something of a sad societal norm. But I can't claim to know the couple so intimately as to be in a place to suggest such.

227