Girls' name · peaked in 1933
Bettye name popularity since 1925
20,830 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Bettye. Half of them were born in 1940 or earlier, so the typical Bettye is about 86 years old in 2026. Bettye peaked in 1933 as the #220 name for girls, and fewer than 5 girls got it in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 20,830
- Named Bettye, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1933
- #220 for girls that year
- In 2025
- Unranked
- Fewer than 5 girls named Bettye in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.8% girls
- 20,783 girls · 47 boys
- Most popular in
- Mississippi
- 9.48× its national share
Peak year is the year Bettye 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.
Bettye births per year, 1925–2025
1933 was the biggest year for Bettye both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1925 and 1930, Bettye became 1.5× more common.
- Steepest fall: Between 1952 and 1957, its share of baby girls fell by 67%, from 1 in 4,560 to 1 in 13,900.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Bettye's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Bettye.
Decade by decade
Babies named Bettye 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 | 3,182 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 7,051 | 29 | #239 |
| 1940s | 6,979 | 18 | #261 |
| 1950s | 2,803 | 0 | #572 |
| 1960s | 527 | 0 | #1,518 |
| 1970s | 132 | 0 | #9,206 |
| 1980s | 71 | 0 | #8,430 |
| 1990s | 38 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 2000s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 2010s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
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
61.3% of babies named Bettye from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Bettye is most popular
The index compares Bettye'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 Bettye.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 9.48× | 2,244 |
| Alabama | 7.20× | 2,489 |
| Arkansas | 6.43× | 1,292 |
| Tennessee | 5.90× | 2,428 |
| Louisiana | 3.11× | 1,091 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Bettye 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Bettye (this page) | 20,783 | 1933 |
| Bettie | 26,383 | 1882 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Bettye's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Bettye.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Bettye (1933).
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