Beulah
Beulah was given to 20 girls in 2025, #5,948 among girls’ names; 73,465 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 7,260 Americans named Beulah and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (10% of everyone recorded); the median is 80 years old and half are between 70 and 88.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Beulah by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Beulah mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Beulah is “a female given name from Hebrew.” Its etymology gives the sense “married (woman)” (בְּעוּלָה).
A biblical name applied to the land of Israel in Isaiah 62:4, from Biblical Hebrew בְּעוּלָה (bəʿûlâ, “married (woman)”), taken up as a given name by Puritans and used figuratively for the New Earth.
/ˈbjuːlə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Beulah?
#5,948 among girls’ names, 2025
Beulah rose from #8,071 in 2015 to #5,948 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 7.8 to 12.4 per million.
2,408 babies in 1916, the peak
Beulah peaked in 1916, when 2,408 babies were given it (2,401 girls, #97 among girls’ names). The 20 births of 2025 are under 1% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 20 | #5,948 | 0.01 |
| 2024 | 26 | #5,037 | 0.02 |
| 2023 | 21 | #5,781 | 0.01 |
| 2022 | 9 | #10,524 | 0.01 |
| 2021 | 17 | #6,731 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 11 | #9,045 | 0.01 |
| 2019 | 29 | #4,670 | 0.02 |
| 2018 | 17 | #6,843 | 0.01 |
| 2017 | 17 | #6,852 | 0.01 |
| 2016 | 16 | #7,306 | 0.01 |
Every recorded year (145)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 14 | #8,071 | 0.01 |
| 2014 | 11 | #9,633 | 0.01 |
| 2013 | 14 | #8,200 | 0.01 |
| 2012 | 12 | #9,195 | 0.01 |
| 2010 | 5 | #17,432 | under 0.01 |
| 2009 | 6 | #15,539 | under 0.01 |
| 2008 | 7 | #14,071 | under 0.01 |
| 2007 | 7 | #14,149 | under 0.01 |
| 2006 | 9 | #11,585 | under 0.01 |
| 2005 | 9 | #11,053 | under 0.01 |
| 2004 | 12 | #8,799 | 0.01 |
| 2003 | 5 | #16,126 | under 0.01 |
| 2002 | 10 | #9,581 | 0.01 |
| 2001 | 7 | #12,251 | under 0.01 |
| 2000 | 7 | #11,955 | under 0.01 |
| 1999 | 6 | #12,899 | under 0.01 |
| 1998 | 5 | #14,431 | under 0.01 |
| 1997 | 9 | #9,115 | 0.01 |
| 1996 | 7 | #10,709 | under 0.01 |
| 1995 | 9 | #8,855 | 0.01 |
| 1994 | 10 | #8,194 | 0.01 |
| 1993 | 5 | #13,697 | under 0.01 |
| 1992 | 7 | #10,606 | under 0.01 |
| 1991 | 12 | #7,010 | 0.01 |
| 1990 | 14 | #6,153 | 0.01 |
| 1989 | 16 | #5,315 | 0.01 |
| 1988 | 16 | #5,079 | 0.01 |
| 1987 | 11 | #6,379 | 0.01 |
| 1986 | 12 | #5,787 | 0.01 |
| 1985 | 17 | #4,473 | 0.01 |
| 1984 | 19 | #4,011 | 0.01 |
| 1983 | 17 | #4,300 | 0.01 |
| 1982 | 20 | #3,908 | 0.01 |
| 1981 | 20 | #3,871 | 0.01 |
| 1980 | 21 | #3,731 | 0.01 |
| 1979 | 19 | #3,919 | 0.01 |
| 1978 | 27 | #2,945 | 0.02 |
| 1977 | 20 | #3,618 | 0.01 |
| 1976 | 26 | #2,872 | 0.02 |
| 1975 | 23 | #3,065 | 0.02 |
| 1974 | 33 | #2,350 | 0.02 |
| 1973 | 27 | #2,634 | 0.02 |
| 1972 | 26 | #2,688 | 0.02 |
| 1971 | 35 | #2,255 | 0.02 |
| 1970 | 50 | #1,783 | 0.03 |
| 1969 | 37 | #2,060 | 0.02 |
| 1968 | 28 | #2,301 | 0.02 |
| 1967 | 65 | #1,362 | 0.04 |
| 1966 | 46 | #1,647 | 0.03 |
| 1965 | 62 | #1,394 | 0.04 |
| 1964 | 78 | #1,246 | 0.04 |
| 1963 | 92 | #1,141 | 0.05 |
| 1962 | 88 | #1,167 | 0.04 |
| 1961 | 95 | #1,125 | 0.05 |
| 1960 | 80 | #1,220 | 0.04 |
| 1959 | 117 | #977 | 0.06 |
| 1958 | 131 | #891 | 0.07 |
| 1957 | 142 | #850 | 0.07 |
| 1956 | 138 | #844 | 0.07 |
| 1955 | 153 | #775 | 0.08 |
| 1954 | 195 | #656 | 0.10 |
| 1953 | 182 | #664 | 0.10 |
| 1952 | 201 | #619 | 0.11 |
| 1951 | 233 | #551 | 0.13 |
| 1950 | 288 | #477 | 0.17 |
| 1949 | 317 | #447 | 0.19 |
| 1948 | 327 | #439 | 0.19 |
| 1947 | 371 | #424 | 0.21 |
| 1946 | 353 | #408 | 0.22 |
| 1945 | 392 | #347 | 0.30 |
| 1944 | 462 | #315 | 0.35 |
| 1943 | 503 | #310 | 0.36 |
| 1942 | 508 | #306 | 0.38 |
| 1941 | 554 | #270 | 0.46 |
| 1940 | 621 | #253 | 0.54 |
| 1939 | 574 | #259 | 0.52 |
| 1938 | 689 | #237 | 0.62 |
| 1937 | 719 | #225 | 0.68 |
| 1936 | 743 | #221 | 0.71 |
| 1935 | 845 | #202 | 0.81 |
| 1934 | 931 | #191 | 0.89 |
| 1933 | 896 | #189 | 0.89 |
| 1932 | 999 | #184 | 0.94 |
| 1931 | 1,063 | #173 | 1.0 |
| 1930 | 1,210 | #168 | 1.1 |
| 1929 | 1,279 | #161 | 1.1 |
| 1928 | 1,421 | #154 | 1.2 |
| 1927 | 1,657 | #145 | 1.4 |
| 1926 | 1,650 | #148 | 1.4 |
| 1925 | 1,777 | #143 | 1.5 |
| 1924 | 2,006 | #138 | 1.6 |
| 1923 | 2,050 | #129 | 1.7 |
| 1922 | 2,097 | #124 | 1.7 |
| 1921 | 2,313 | #116 | 1.9 |
| 1920 | 2,376 | #109 | 2.0 |
| 1919 | 2,212 | #108 | 2.0 |
| 1918 | 2,363 | #104 | 2.0 |
| 1917 | 2,232 | #102 | 2.1 |
| 1916 | 2,401 | #97 | 2.3 |
| 1915 | 2,268 | #95 | 2.3 |
| 1914 | 1,775 | #96 | 2.3 |
| 1913 | 1,641 | #85 | 2.6 |
| 1912 | 1,607 | #80 | 2.9 |
| 1911 | 1,244 | #79 | 3.0 |
| 1910 | 1,131 | #82 | 2.9 |
| 1909 | 1,052 | #80 | 3.0 |
| 1908 | 1,015 | #82 | 3.0 |
| 1907 | 1,092 | #73 | 3.4 |
| 1906 | 980 | #75 | 3.3 |
| 1905 | 968 | #77 | 3.3 |
| 1904 | 983 | #72 | 3.6 |
| 1903 | 920 | #72 | 3.5 |
| 1902 | 873 | #77 | 3.3 |
| 1901 | 859 | #74 | 3.6 |
| 1900 | 974 | #78 | 3.2 |
| 1899 | 770 | #76 | 3.3 |
| 1898 | 783 | #82 | 3.0 |
| 1897 | 688 | #81 | 2.9 |
| 1896 | 750 | #77 | 3.2 |
| 1895 | 760 | #74 | 3.3 |
| 1894 | 675 | #79 | 3.0 |
| 1893 | 622 | #80 | 2.9 |
| 1892 | 638 | #77 | 3.0 |
| 1891 | 526 | #81 | 2.8 |
| 1890 | 573 | #79 | 3.0 |
| 1889 | 498 | #81 | 2.8 |
| 1888 | 426 | #95 | 2.4 |
| 1887 | 355 | #90 | 2.4 |
| 1886 | 345 | #98 | 2.4 |
| 1885 | 309 | #96 | 2.3 |
| 1884 | 233 | #113 | 1.8 |
| 1883 | 217 | #107 | 1.9 |
| 1882 | 190 | #112 | 1.8 |
| 1881 | 162 | #112 | 1.8 |
| 1880 | 131 | #123 | 1.4 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Beulah a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Beulah has been given almost only to girls: 213 boys in 145 years of records.
Girls and boys named Beulah: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Beulah, and how old are they?
7,260 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 10% of the 73,465 Americans ever recorded as Beulah. The median Beulah alive today is 80 years old; half are between 70 and 88.
The 2020 Census counted 9,271 people named Beulah (9,243 women and girls, 28 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 11,197 born in the U.S. The Census count is 17% 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 | 3,400 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 2,640 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 501 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 206 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 115 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 221 |
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 Beulah born?
The states with the most babies named Beulah are North Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia, with 21% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Kentucky and Virginia are not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 4,043 | not ranked | 2.1× |
| Kentucky | 3,791 | not ranked | 2.6× |
| Virginia | 2,805 | not ranked | 2.0× |
| Tennessee | 2,697 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| West Virginia | 2,542 | not ranked | 2.6× |
| Missouri | 2,355 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| Texas | 2,268 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 2,120 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Ohio | 1,996 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Georgia | 1,964 | not ranked | 1.1× |
Where Beulah is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Beulah is most over-represented in West Virginia: since 1910 it was given 2.6 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 Beulah 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 162,834 babies since 1880, Beulah is the second most given (45% of them). In 2025 it was given to 20 of their 2,186 babies (<1%), the third most given that year.
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 Beulah
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 Beulah and names like it
- Compare Beulah and BellaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sBeulah peaked in 1916.
- North Carolina’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Beulah since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Beulah: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1916The year the most babies were named Beulah.
- The names of the Silent GenerationMost people named Beulah alive today were born 1928-1945.
- Names starting with BMost given first.