Beckett is an English surname that is usually explained as "bee cottage" or "little brook", from Old English place names. It carries literary weight through the playwright Samuel Beckett and the medieval archbishop Thomas Becket, which made it attractive to parents looking for a surname with substance. Beckett entered the US top 1000 in 2006, hovered around number 200 for years and climbed to number 141 in 2025, its best rank so far.