girl's name
Betty
BET-ee
- Origin Hebrew
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 1,022,521
England and Wales
#393
2025 births
Betty is a girl's name that began as a short form of Elizabeth and is now used in its own right. It is the only name in this group of mid-century giants that our data marks as reviving — and the revival is British-led, with England and Wales quadrupling while America barely moved.
- Betty is a name of Hebrew origin.
- Peaked in 1930, when 38,396 babies were given the name.
- After peaking in the 1930s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival.
- Today about 1 in 15,638 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Betty over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,519 |
| 1890s | 3,196 |
| 1900s | 7,951 |
| 1910s | 44,983 |
| 1920s | 283,849 |
| 1930s | 301,840 |
| 1940s | 195,365 |
| 1950s | 103,515 |
| 1960s | 38,569 |
| 1970s | 11,770 |
| 1980s | 5,192 |
| 1990s | 2,638 |
| 2000s | 1,446 |
| 2010s | 1,744 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 1,280 |
What Betty means
Betty means God is my oath, carried through from Elizabeth. The Hebrew name behind it joins a form of the divine name to a word for an oath or a sworn promise.
Where Betty comes from
Betty is clipped from Elizabeth, the Greek Elisabet rendering the Hebrew Elisheva — el, God, with sheva, an oath or the number seven, which in Hebrew idiom are bound together because oaths were sworn sevenfold. The pet form is old, and it went through the usual English cycle: Elizabeth to Bess to Betsy and Betty, with the initial vowel dropped and the consonant softened. By the eighteenth century Betty had become so common a name for servants in English fiction that it briefly carried a class marker, which is part of why it fell out of fashionable use before returning as a name for a new generation with no memory of that.
Betty in use
Betty peaked in the United States in 1930, when 38,396 babies were registered, and is the only name in this cohort our data marks as reviving. The revival is British-led: England and Wales went from 32 births in 2005 to 135 in 2015 and 108 in 2025, moving from 881st to 393rd, while American use rose far more modestly from 135 to 212 births across the same period. It now ranks 393rd in England and Wales, 833rd in Ireland, 967th in Scotland, 1115th in the United States and 6798th in France, across 1,022,521 lifetime births.
How popular is Betty?
In 2025, Betty was given to 212 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Betty is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Betty
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Betty also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Betty over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Betty in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Betty
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Betty — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Betty
What does the name Betty mean?
God is my oath, carried through from Elizabeth.
Is Betty short for Elizabeth?
It began that way, through Bess and Betsy, and is now widely registered as a full name.
Is Betty coming back?
In Britain, clearly — England and Wales went from 32 births in 2005 to 135 in 2015. The American rise is much milder.
How popular is Betty?
393rd in England and Wales and 1115th in the United States.
Is Betty a girl's or a boy's name?
Betty is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Betty?
Betty has 2 syllables.
Is Betty a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Betty currently ranks #393 in the United States. After peaking in the 1930s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.