Recorded 1916–1968 Girls' name Peak 1917 48 births

Bethena — girls' name

48 babies named Bethena in U.S. Social Security records since 1916, with the highest year being 1917. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

1910s111930s101950s101960s17
1960s
Peak decade

35% of everyone ever named Bethena was born in this single decade.

1917
Single peak year

6 babies were named Bethena in 1917 — its busiest year on record.

What the Data Says About Bethena

The Social Security Administration has registered 48 babies named Bethena between 1916 and 1968, spanning 53 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a girl's name, Bethena currently falls outside the top 1,000 girls' names for 1968. The name reached its historical peak in 1917, when 6 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Bethena performed strongest in the 1960s, accumulating 17 births during that ten-year window. Across the 4 decades of recorded activity, Bethena shows a stable profile with only moderate drift from its peak decade.

No etymological entry is currently available for Bethena in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 48 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.

Bethena at a glance

Last recorded 1968

Total births

48

Since 1916

53 years of records

Peak year

1917

6 births that year

Strongest decade: 1960s

Current rank

Unranked

Outside the modern top-1,000

As of 1968

Active since

1916

Recorded for 53 years

Last year on file: 1968

Bethena popularity over time

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1968–1916

Last recorded 1968
Peak year (1917)
6
Annual births at peak — across 53 years of records
4.555.566.5 196819661964195619501936193519171916 5

Bethena by decade

Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance

Peak: 1960s
Peak decade
1960s
17 births that decade — 35% of Bethena's all-time total
1910s111930s101950s101960s17

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Bethena?
48 babies have been named Bethena since 1916. It was last recorded in 1968. The peak year was 1917 with 6 births.
When was Bethena most popular?
Bethena was most popular in the 1960s decade with 17 total births. The single peak year was 1917.
How long has the name Bethena been used?
Bethena has been recorded in Social Security data since 1916, spanning 53 years of data through 1968.
What names are similar to Bethena?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Betty, Beth, Bethany, Betsy, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for girls.

Data Sources

Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1916–1968 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.