Betty

What Betty means

Diminutive of Elizabeth, meaning “my God is an oath”

diminutive of the female given name Elizabeth || From Middle English Elizabeth, from the Ancient Greek Ἐλισάβετ (Elisábet), a transliteration of the Old Testament Biblical Hebrew אלישבע (ʔĕlîšeḇaʕ, “my God is an oath”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Betty” (revision 93764790) and “Elizabeth” (revision 94539074), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Betty?

US: Rising: up from #1266 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #349 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1930, when 38,240 girls got the name (#2 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 7,581 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 2,345 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 5,964 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in UT (0.47 per 1,000 girls), MO (0.45 per 1,000 girls), KS (0.42 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Betty is #1113 in the US and #391 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Betty were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Beti0 US · 12 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Betty

Girls

• Sylvia#300“forest”^*
• Margaret#112“pearl”^*
• Blair#169“field, plain”^*
• Stevie#203Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #978 in 2015, #203 in 2025
• Scottie#126Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #3,533 in 2015, #126 in 2025
• Amy#257“beloved”^*

For a brother

• Louis#249“loud; famous + battle”^*
• Malcolm#272Variant of Calum, meaning “dove”^*
• Walter#251“ruler + army, host”^*
• George#126“farmer, earth worker”^*
• Wesley#52“west + wood, clearing”^*
• Arthur#87possibly “bear”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Betty’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.