Girls' name · peaked in 1930
Betty name popularity since 1925
837,849 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Betty. Half of them were born in 1937 or earlier, so the typical Betty is about 89 years old in 2026. Betty peaked in 1930 as the #2 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 837,849
- Named Betty, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1930
- #2 for girls that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,113 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.6% girls
- 834,570 girls · 3,279 boys
- Most popular in
- West Virginia
- 3.13× its national share
Peak year is the year Betty 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.
Betty births per year, 1925–2025
1930 was the biggest year for Betty both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Steepest fall: Between 1973 and 1978, Betty's share of baby girls fell by 49%, from 1 in 1,100 to 1 in 2,150.
- Fastest rise: Between 2019 and 2024, it became 1.6× more common, from 1 in 10,300 baby girls to 1 in 6,400.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Betty's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Betty.
Decade by decade
Babies named Betty 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 | 173,958 | 532 | – |
| 1930s | 300,409 | 1,431 | #4 |
| 1940s | 194,623 | 742 | #11 |
| 1950s | 103,204 | 311 | #36 |
| 1960s | 38,397 | 172 | #103 |
| 1970s | 11,708 | 62 | #237 |
| 1980s | 5,163 | 29 | #437 |
| 1990s | 2,638 | 0 | #830 |
| 2000s | 1,446 | 0 | #1,526 |
| 2010s | 1,744 | 0 | #1,268 |
| 2020–25 | 1,280 | 0 | #1,113 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
59.7% of babies named Betty from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Betty is most popular
The index compares Betty'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 Betty.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | 3.13× | 23,191 |
| Arkansas | 2.55× | 22,080 |
| Kentucky | 2.25× | 31,742 |
| Alabama | 2.15× | 32,060 |
| Oklahoma | 2.15× | 23,595 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Betty and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Betty (this page) | 834,570 | 1930 |
| Bettie | 26,383 | 1882 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Betty's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Betty.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Betty (1930).
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