Beck is a surname of Germanic descent, meaning "brook" or "stream" (related to Old Norse bekkr), and is fairly common in English-speaking countries, Germany and Denmark. The German name can also be a variant of Becker, which is an occupational surname meaning "baker." In Hebrew, it exists as an abbreviated form of B'nei Kiddoshim ("sons of the martyrs"). Notable people with this surname include:
Aaron T. Beck, founder of modern cognitive therapy
Adam Beck (1857–1925), Canadian politician and hydro-electricity advocate
András Beck (1911–1985), Hungarian sculptor
Andreas Beck (footballer) (born 1987), German football player
Andreas Beck (tennis), German tennis player
Audrey P. Beck (1931-1983), American educator and politician
Bill Beck (1900–1965), American college sports coach
C. C. Beck, American cartoonist
Charlie Beck, appointed Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department
Christophe Beck, Canadian composer for film and TV, most notable for his work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Claude Beck (1894–1971), American cardiac surgeon who invented the defibrillator
Clifford W. Beck, American politician
Corey Beck (born 1971), American basketball player
"Dr. Beck", name taken by the Count de Werdinsky (1803–1856)
Edward S. Beck (born 1946) Head, Susquehanna Institute, President, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
Franz Ignaz Beck, (1734-1809), German classical composer
Gad Beck (1923-2012), German educator, author, activist, and survivor of the Holocaust
George Beck (artist), artist and poet
Gina Beck, English actress and singer
Glenn Beck, American conservative radio/TV talk show host and comedian
Günther Beck von Mannagetta und Lerchenau, German botanist
Hans Beck (1929–2009), German inventor
Harry Beck, designer of the London Underground map
Harry Beck (footballer)
Jakob Sigismund Beck, German philosopher
James M. Beck (1861–1936), United States Solicitor General and US Congressman from Pennsylvania
Jeff Beck (born 1944), British electric guitarist
Joe Beck (1945–2008), American jazz guitarist
John Beck (actor) (born 1943), American actor
John Beck (footballer), British football manager
John Beck (gridiron football), NFL player and former BYU quarterback
John Brodhead Beck, 19th-century United States physician
Jonathan Mock Beck (1935–2006), American mathematician
Joko Beck, an American Zen teacher
Józef Beck, Polish diplomat and military officer, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland (1932-1939)
József Beck, a mathematician
Justin Beck, American guitarist
Karol Beck, Slovakian tennis player
Kent Beck, major proponent of Extreme Programming
Kimberly Beck (born 1956), American actress
Kristin Beck
Kurt Beck (born 1949), German politician (SPD)
Laetitia Beck (born 1992), Israeli golfer
Lewis Caleb Beck, 19th-century United States naturalist and physician
Ludwig Beck, German general and participant in the failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler
Michael Beck (born 1949), American actor
Mikkel Beck, Danish professional football player
Paul W. Beck, American military aviation pioneer
Peter Beck (politician) (born 1952), politician from Ohio
Peter Beck (priest) (born c. 1948/1949), dean of ChristChurch Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand
Rick Beck (born 1956), member of the Arkansas House of Representatives
Robert Beck, alias of African American writer Iceberg Slim
Robert Beck, alias of former D-12 rapper Karnail Pitts
Robert Nason Beck, pioneer radiologist
Robin Beck (born 1954), American singer
Rod Beck (1968–2007), former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball
Rollo Beck (1870–1950), American bird collector
Theodore Beck, first principal of the MAO College at Aligarh, India
Theodric Romeyn Beck, forensic scientist
Ulrich Beck (1944-2015), German sociologist
W. Raymond Beck, former member of Maryland House of Delegates
