Beulah ( ), a feminine given name, originated from the
Hebrew word ( ''bə‘ūlāh''), used in the
Book of Isaiah as a prophesied attribute of the land of Israel. The King James Bible transliterates the word and translates it as "married" (see ). An alternative translation is "espoused", see for example (Mechon Mamre). The ''
Online Etymology Dictionary'' relates the word to ''baal'', meaning "owner, master, lord".
Literary works have used "Beulah" as the name of a mystical place, somewhere between Earth and Heaven. It was so used in ''
The Pilgrim's Progress
''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come'' is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of theological fiction in English literature and a progenitor of the ...
'' by
John Bunyan
John Bunyan (; baptised 30 November 162831 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress,'' which also became an influential literary model. In additio ...
and in the works of
William Blake
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...
, for example several times in ''
The Four Zoas''.
The Four Zoas
People with this name
* Beulah Annan (1899–1928), American suspected murderer and the model for the character Roxie Hart (from Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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)
* Beulah Bewley (1929–2018) British public health physician
* Beulah Bondi (1888–1981), American actress
* Beulah H. Brown (1892–1987), American artist
* Beulah Burke (1885–1975), co-founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first sorority founded by African American women
*Beulah Marie Dix
Beulah Marie Dix (December 25, 1876 – September 25, 1970) was an American screenwriter of the silent and sound film eras, as well as a playwright and author of novels and children's books. She wrote for more than 55 films between 1917 and ...
(1876–1970), American screenwriter and author of children's books
* Beulah Gundling (1916–2003), American synchronized swimmer
*Beulah Louise Henry
Beulah Louise Henry (September 28, 1887 – February 1973) was an American inventor. In the 1930s, she was given the nickname "Lady Edison" for her many inventions.Autumn Stanley. (1993). ''Mothers and daughters of invention: notes for a revised ...
(1887–1973), American inventor
*Beulah Elfreth Kennard
Beulah Elfreth Kennard (August 3, 1869 – November 8, 1949) was an American lecturer and writer. She served as the educational director of the Association of Department Store Workers, president of the Pennsylvania Association of Women Workers, and ...
(1869-after 1944), American Trades Union activist
*Beulah McGillicutty
Trisa Laughlin ( née Hayes; born March 14, 1969) is an American author and retired professional wrestling valet, better known by her ring name, Beulah McGillicutty. She is best known for her appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling from ...
, stage name of Trisa Hayes Laughlin (born 1969), American pro wrestling valet
* Beulah Poynter (1883–1960), American actress and writer
*Beulah Quo
Beulah Quo (April 17, 1923 – October 23, 2002) was a Chinese-American actress and activist born in Stockton, California. The spelling of her last name changed from Kwoh to Quo because she was constantly asked if KWOH was a radio station. She s ...
(1923–2002), Chinese-American actress and activist
* Beulah Thumbadoo, South African literacy campaigner
* Beulah Rebecca Hooks Hannah Tingley (1893–1986), Florida politician
* Beulah Woodard (1895–1955), American sculptor
* Beulah Woolston (1828–1886), pioneering American missionary teacher in China
Fictional characters
*Beulah Brown, the title character of the 1940s and '50s radio and television series ''Beulah''
*Beulah McInnerny, a minor character from the animated children's series ''Arthur''
*Beulah is the middle name of Jackie Burkhart from ''That '70s Show
''That '70s Show'' is an American television Period piece, period teen sitcom that aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series focuses on the lives of a group of six teenage friends living in the ficti ...
''
*Beulah Bleak, from Grant Morrison's comics ''Seven Soldiers: Klarion the Witch-boy''
*Beulah Lisa Wilkes, Will's girlfriend and onetime fiancée in ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' is an American television sitcom created by Andy and Susan Borowitz for NBC. It aired from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The series stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart ...
''. She always went by her middle name.
*Beulah Bemis, a main character and narrator of the book “One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow”
*Beulah is the name (and spelling) given for the particular machine used by Jake Sully to establish the neural connection between himself and his avatar in the movie ''Avatar
Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appeara ...
''.
See also
* Beulah (disambiguation)
* Beulah (Blake)
References
{{given name
Hebrew feminine given names