Girls' name · peaked in 1923
Bette name popularity since 1925
25,275 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Bette. Half of them were born in 1938 or earlier, so the typical Bette is about 88 years old in 2026. Bette peaked in 1923 as the #148 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 25,275
- Named Bette, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1923
- #148 for girls that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #11,103 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.9% girls
- 25,259 girls · 16 boys
- Most popular in
- Iowa
- 2.73× its national share
Peak year is the year Bette made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Bette births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Bette peaked earlier, in 1923.
- Steepest fall: Between 1953 and 1958, Bette's share of baby girls fell by 60%, from 1 in 4,240 to 1 in 10,700.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Bette's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Bette.
Decade by decade
Babies named Bette in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 6,046 | 6 | – |
| 1930s | 7,389 | 5 | #245 |
| 1940s | 7,034 | 5 | #270 |
| 1950s | 3,438 | 0 | #501 |
| 1960s | 890 | 0 | #1,241 |
| 1970s | 181 | 0 | #4,886 |
| 1980s | 99 | 0 | #5,709 |
| 1990s | 45 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 2000s | 17 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 2010s | 65 | 0 | #11,034 |
| 2020–25 | 55 | 0 | #11,103 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 girls got the name.
Generation fingerprint
54.2% of babies named Bette from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Bette is most popular
The index compares Bette's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Bette.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Iowa | 2.73× | 812 |
| Nebraska | 2.50× | 410 |
| Minnesota | 2.30× | 980 |
| Wisconsin | 2.27× | 1,045 |
| Massachusetts | 1.73× | 964 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Bette's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Bette.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Bette (1923).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data