Beatty is a surname of Scottish and Irish origin. In the Scottish case, it is derived from the name Bartholomew, which was often shortened to Bate or Baty. Male descendants were then often called Beatty, or similar derivations like Beattie or Beatey. The name Beatty also arose in Ireland from Betagh, a surname meaning hospitaller. A majority of people named Beatty or Beattie in Ireland are the descendants of Scots who came over to Ulster in the seventeenth century. Beattie is common in counties Antrim and Down, whilst Beatty is more common in counties Armagh and Tyrone. In Fermanagh in 1962, Beatty was the fifteenth most common name and was recorded as synonymous wth the names Betty and MacCaffrey (or McCaffrey).

The name may also derive from Mac a'Bhiadhtaigh, from biadhtach, "one who held land on condition of supplying food (biad) to those billeted on him by the chief". In the rest of Ireland, the name Biadhtach (Betagh; "public victualler") was changed to Beatty.

DNA testing on a Baty of Cumbrian descent has found close matches with others bearing the following surnames: Beatty; Beattie; Beaty; Baity; Beattey; Batey and Bates.

The surname Beatty can refer to:

• Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, collector of Chinese and Japanese art
• Beatty, fictional character from the novel Fahrenheit 451
• Bruce W. Beatty
• Clyde Beatty, American trainer of wild animals and circus performer
• David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, British Admiral at the Battle of Jutland
• David Beatty, 2nd Earl Beatty, British politician
• David Beatty, 3rd Earl Beatty, photographer
• Sean Beatty, Viscount Borodale, heir to the Earl Beatty
• David L. Beatty (1798-1881), fifth mayor of Louisville, Kentucky
• David R. Beatty
• Edward Wentworth Beatty
• James Beatty (engineer) (1820-56), railway engineer
• Jim Beatty
• Jerome Beatty, Jr., children's author of the Matthew Looney books
• John Beatty, American Civil War general
• John Beatty (delegate)
• John Beatty (illustrator)
• John Beatty (philosopher)
• Joyce Beatty
• Linda Beatty
• Maria Beatty
• Mike Beatty
• Ned Beatty, American actor
• Paul Beatty
• Perrin Beatty
• Robert Beatty
• Samuel Beatty, American Civil War general
• Scott Beatty
• Terry Beatty
• Warren Beatty, the American actor
• William Beatty, British Navy surgeon serving with Lord Nelson
• William Beatty (Ontario politician)
• William H. Beatty
• Patrick M. Beatty

Places named Beatty

• Beatty, Nevada
• Beatty, Oregon
• Beatty, Saskatchewan
• Beatty, Pennsylvania

See also

• Beattie
• Batey (family name)

See the Beatty Project 2000 website 1