Van Beek is a toponymic surname of (southern) Dutch origin. Though translating as "of the stream", the absence of an article suggests that the original bearer originated from a town called Beek rather than lived near a stream. There are several towns which are or were named Beek in Gelderland, Limburg and North Brabant and also one in the municipality Bree in Belgium near the Dutch border. [1] The name is quite common in the Netherlands, ranking 38th in 2007 (17,148 people). [2] Related names include Beek, Van Beeck, Ter Beek, Van der Beek , and Verbeek . People with this surname include: