Betty
Betty was given to 212 girls in 2025, #1,113 among girls’ names; 1,004,857 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 314,000 Americans named Betty and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (31% of everyone recorded); the median is 78 years old and half are between 70 and 86.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Betty by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Betty mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Betty is “a diminutive of the female given name Elizabeth.”
/ˈbɛti/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Betty?
#1,113 among girls’ names, 2025
Betty rose from #1,268 in 2015 to #1,113 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 0.11 to 0.13 per 1,000.
38,396 babies in 1930, the peak
Betty peaked in 1930, when 38,396 babies were given it (38,240 girls, #2 among girls’ names). The 212 births of 2025 are under 1% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 212 | #1,113 | 0.13 |
| 2024 | 253 | #1,012 | 0.16 |
| 2023 | 202 | #1,187 | 0.13 |
| 2022 | 210 | #1,157 | 0.13 |
| 2021 | 205 | #1,189 | 0.12 |
| 2020 | 198 | #1,175 | 0.12 |
| 2019 | 163 | #1,379 | 0.10 |
| 2018 | 216 | #1,131 | 0.13 |
| 2017 | 177 | #1,319 | 0.10 |
| 2016 | 179 | #1,328 | 0.10 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 192 | #1,268 | 0.11 |
| 2014 | 196 | #1,240 | 0.11 |
| 2013 | 177 | #1,322 | 0.10 |
| 2012 | 141 | #1,553 | 0.08 |
| 2011 | 167 | #1,375 | 0.09 |
| 2010 | 136 | #1,597 | 0.08 |
| 2009 | 150 | #1,517 | 0.08 |
| 2008 | 141 | #1,606 | 0.07 |
| 2007 | 135 | #1,646 | 0.07 |
| 2006 | 138 | #1,567 | 0.07 |
| 2005 | 135 | #1,526 | 0.07 |
| 2004 | 140 | #1,452 | 0.08 |
| 2003 | 148 | #1,364 | 0.08 |
| 2002 | 129 | #1,479 | 0.07 |
| 2001 | 154 | #1,276 | 0.09 |
| 2000 | 176 | #1,148 | 0.10 |
| 1999 | 183 | #1,087 | 0.10 |
| 1998 | 197 | #1,010 | 0.11 |
| 1997 | 189 | #1,019 | 0.11 |
| 1996 | 217 | #903 | 0.12 |
| 1995 | 236 | #829 | 0.13 |
| 1994 | 276 | #753 | 0.15 |
| 1993 | 292 | #727 | 0.16 |
| 1992 | 296 | #722 | 0.16 |
| 1991 | 346 | #642 | 0.18 |
| 1990 | 406 | #571 | 0.21 |
| 1989 | 399 | #561 | 0.22 |
| 1988 | 395 | #552 | 0.22 |
| 1987 | 436 | #497 | 0.25 |
| 1986 | 408 | #510 | 0.24 |
| 1985 | 502 | #437 | 0.29 |
| 1984 | 504 | #423 | 0.30 |
| 1983 | 564 | #390 | 0.34 |
| 1982 | 635 | #364 | 0.38 |
| 1981 | 662 | #354 | 0.40 |
| 1980 | 658 | #359 | 0.40 |
| 1979 | 710 | #331 | 0.44 |
| 1978 | 714 | #321 | 0.47 |
| 1977 | 808 | #293 | 0.53 |
| 1976 | 908 | #262 | 0.62 |
| 1975 | 1,021 | #237 | 0.70 |
| 1974 | 1,131 | #228 | 0.77 |
| 1973 | 1,322 | #196 | 0.91 |
| 1972 | 1,364 | #204 | 0.90 |
| 1971 | 1,764 | #175 | 1.1 |
| 1970 | 1,966 | #169 | 1.1 |
| 1969 | 2,135 | #154 | 1.3 |
| 1968 | 2,133 | #153 | 1.3 |
| 1967 | 2,543 | #137 | 1.5 |
| 1966 | 2,946 | #121 | 1.7 |
| 1965 | 3,566 | #103 | 2.0 |
| 1964 | 4,070 | #102 | 2.1 |
| 1963 | 4,156 | #104 | 2.2 |
| 1962 | 4,763 | #97 | 2.4 |
| 1961 | 5,584 | #87 | 2.8 |
| 1960 | 6,501 | #68 | 3.2 |
| 1959 | 7,313 | #59 | 3.6 |
| 1958 | 7,715 | #54 | 3.8 |
| 1957 | 8,479 | #50 | 4.1 |
| 1956 | 9,218 | #44 | 4.6 |
| 1955 | 9,924 | #36 | 5.1 |
| 1954 | 10,620 | #36 | 5.5 |
| 1953 | 11,369 | #33 | 6.0 |
| 1952 | 12,129 | #32 | 6.5 |
| 1951 | 12,822 | #29 | 7.1 |
| 1950 | 13,615 | #26 | 7.9 |
| 1949 | 14,936 | #22 | 8.7 |
| 1948 | 16,625 | #18 | 9.8 |
| 1947 | 18,966 | #17 | 10.7 |
| 1946 | 19,711 | #14 | 12.5 |
| 1945 | 18,387 | #11 | 14.1 |
| 1944 | 19,761 | #10 | 14.9 |
| 1943 | 21,596 | #10 | 15.5 |
| 1942 | 21,659 | #9 | 16.0 |
| 1941 | 20,905 | #7 | 17.3 |
| 1940 | 22,077 | #5 | 19.3 |
| 1939 | 23,639 | #4 | 21.6 |
| 1938 | 25,506 | #4 | 23.1 |
| 1937 | 25,337 | #5 | 23.8 |
| 1936 | 25,868 | #4 | 24.9 |
| 1935 | 28,674 | #4 | 27.3 |
| 1934 | 31,089 | #2 | 29.8 |
| 1933 | 31,531 | #2 | 31.3 |
| 1932 | 34,420 | #2 | 32.3 |
| 1931 | 36,105 | #2 | 33.9 |
| 1930 | 38,240 | #2 | 34.0 |
| 1929 | 36,675 | #2 | 32.8 |
| 1928 | 36,083 | #2 | 31.3 |
| 1927 | 35,424 | #3 | 29.7 |
| 1926 | 32,964 | #3 | 27.8 |
| 1925 | 32,812 | #3 | 27.0 |
| 1924 | 30,600 | #4 | 24.5 |
| 1923 | 25,989 | #5 | 21.5 |
| 1922 | 20,895 | #6 | 17.4 |
| 1921 | 17,638 | #8 | 14.3 |
| 1920 | 14,016 | #11 | 11.7 |
| 1919 | 10,106 | #15 | 8.9 |
| 1918 | 8,803 | #21 | 7.6 |
| 1917 | 6,639 | #34 | 6.1 |
| 1916 | 5,136 | #44 | 4.9 |
| 1915 | 4,181 | #53 | 4.2 |
| 1914 | 2,933 | #62 | 3.9 |
| 1913 | 2,240 | #67 | 3.6 |
| 1912 | 2,011 | #66 | 3.6 |
| 1911 | 1,456 | #69 | 3.5 |
| 1910 | 1,389 | #69 | 3.5 |
| 1909 | 1,082 | #77 | 3.1 |
| 1908 | 1,128 | #72 | 3.4 |
| 1907 | 1,018 | #77 | 3.2 |
| 1906 | 865 | #81 | 2.9 |
| 1905 | 807 | #85 | 2.8 |
| 1904 | 707 | #91 | 2.6 |
| 1903 | 596 | #98 | 2.3 |
| 1902 | 580 | #101 | 2.2 |
| 1901 | 473 | #112 | 2.0 |
| 1900 | 665 | #100 | 2.2 |
| 1899 | 410 | #119 | 1.8 |
| 1898 | 421 | #126 | 1.6 |
| 1897 | 367 | #132 | 1.6 |
| 1896 | 342 | #139 | 1.4 |
| 1895 | 350 | #131 | 1.5 |
| 1894 | 298 | #145 | 1.3 |
| 1893 | 298 | #139 | 1.4 |
| 1892 | 255 | #155 | 1.2 |
| 1891 | 239 | #147 | 1.3 |
| 1890 | 216 | #164 | 1.1 |
| 1889 | 189 | #159 | 1.1 |
| 1888 | 214 | #148 | 1.2 |
| 1887 | 178 | #144 | 1.2 |
| 1886 | 167 | #147 | 1.2 |
| 1885 | 155 | #145 | 1.2 |
| 1884 | 144 | #149 | 1.1 |
| 1883 | 120 | #150 | 1.1 |
| 1882 | 123 | #145 | 1.1 |
| 1881 | 112 | #140 | 1.2 |
| 1880 | 117 | #136 | 1.3 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Betty a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Betty has been given almost only to girls: 3,619 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Betty: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Betty, and how old are they?
314,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 31% of the 1,004,857 Americans ever recorded as Betty. The median Betty alive today is 78 years old; half are between 70 and 86.
The 2020 Census counted 382,966 people named Betty (382,462 women and girls, 504 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 437,383 born in the U.S. The Census count is 12% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 128,000 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 147,000 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 23,700 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 6,400 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 2,430 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 2,560 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Betty born?
The states with the most babies named Betty are Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas, with 18% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 66,391 | #1,260 | 0.9× |
| Ohio | 60,296 | #814 | 1.2× |
| Texas | 54,746 | #1,364 | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 49,105 | #1,271 | 0.9× |
| North Carolina | 44,166 | #1,074 | 1.3× |
| Georgia | 40,924 | #1,098 | 1.3× |
| New York | 39,777 | #1,174 | 0.4× |
| Tennessee | 36,423 | #1,154 | 1.4× |
| Michigan | 36,421 | #801 | 0.9× |
| California | 36,307 | #1,507 | 0.8× |
Where Betty is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Betty is most over-represented in West Virginia: since 1910 it was given 1.5 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Betty with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 1,103,901 babies since 1880, Betty is the most given (91% of them). In 2025 it was given to 212 of their 249 babies (85%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Betty
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Betty and names like it
- Compare Betty and BettieBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1930sBetty peaked in 1930.
- Pennsylvania’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Betty since 1910.
- The top names of 1930The year the most babies were named Betty.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Betty alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with BMost given first.