BEVIS. Camden treats of this among Christian names, and thinks it may be corrupted from " the famous Celtique king, Bellovesus." The town of Beauvais, in France, is however a more likely source for the surname. The Sir Bevys of medieval romance seems to have no place in veritable history, though Heylin claims him as a real Earl of Southampton. The first instance of the surname that I can call to mind is in Sir John Bevis, or Befs, who took Richard, brother of King Henry III., prisoner in a winchnill at the battle of Lewes, in V2CA. See Beauvoir. A Goisbert de Belvaco occurs in Domesday.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.