Popularity of the name Betty, 1880–2025
Betty was at its most popular in 1930, when 38,240 girls were given the name: about 1 in 29 girls born in the U.S. that year, ranking #2. In 2025, 212 girls were named Betty, ranking #1,113. In all, Social Security counts 1,001,238 girls named Betty since 1880. Social Security’s records also list 3,619 boys named Betty.
- Peak year
- 1930
- Rank in 1930
- #2
- Babies in 1930
- 38,240
- Rank in 2025
- #1,113
- Total since 1880
- 1,001,238
Where it stands now
Over the last ten years it has climbed from #1,266 in 2015 to #1,113 in 2025, with 192 girls named Betty in 2015 and 212 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Betty ranked highest in the 1930s, at #2, with 300,409 girls given the name that decade. It ranked #145 in the 1880s and #1,137 in the 2020s so far.
Every 20 years in the records: 117 in 1880 (#136), 665 in 1900 (#100), 14,016 in 1920 (#11), 22,077 in 1940 (#5), 6,501 in 1960 (#68), 658 in 1980 (#358), 176 in 2000 (#1,150) and 198 in 2020 (#1,173).
Highs and lows
The most girls given the name in a single year was 38,240, in 1930. Its best rank in any year was #2, first reached in 1928.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1880 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 girls named Betty, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 117 | #136 |
| 1881 | 112 | #140 |
| 1882 | 123 | #144 |
| 1883 | 120 | #150 |
| 1884 | 144 | #149 |
| 1885 | 155 | #144 |
| 1886 | 167 | #147 |
| 1887 | 178 | #144 |
| 1888 | 214 | #148 |
| 1889 | 189 | #159 |
| 1890 | 216 | #164 |
| 1891 | 239 | #146 |
| 1892 | 255 | #155 |
| 1893 | 298 | #139 |
| 1894 | 298 | #144 |
| 1895 | 350 | #131 |
| 1896 | 342 | #139 |
| 1897 | 367 | #132 |
| 1898 | 421 | #126 |
| 1899 | 410 | #119 |
| 1900 | 665 | #100 |
| 1901 | 473 | #112 |
| 1902 | 580 | #101 |
| 1903 | 596 | #98 |
| 1904 | 707 | #91 |
| 1905 | 807 | #85 |
| 1906 | 865 | #81 |
| 1907 | 1,018 | #77 |
| 1908 | 1,128 | #72 |
| 1909 | 1,082 | #77 |
| 1910 | 1,389 | #69 |
| 1911 | 1,456 | #69 |
| 1912 | 2,011 | #66 |
| 1913 | 2,240 | #67 |
| 1914 | 2,933 | #62 |
| 1915 | 4,181 | #53 |
| 1916 | 5,136 | #44 |
| 1917 | 6,639 | #34 |
| 1918 | 8,803 | #21 |
| 1919 | 10,106 | #15 |
| 1920 | 14,016 | #11 |
| 1921 | 17,638 | #8 |
| 1922 | 20,895 | #6 |
| 1923 | 25,989 | #5 |
| 1924 | 30,600 | #4 |
| 1925 | 32,812 | #3 |
| 1926 | 32,964 | #3 |
| 1927 | 35,424 | #3 |
| 1928 | 36,083 | #2 |
| 1929 | 36,675 | #2 |
| 1930 | 38,240 | #2 |
| 1931 | 36,105 | #2 |
| 1932 | 34,420 | #2 |
| 1933 | 31,531 | #2 |
| 1934 | 31,089 | #2 |
| 1935 | 28,674 | #4 |
| 1936 | 25,868 | #4 |
| 1937 | 25,337 | #5 |
| 1938 | 25,506 | #4 |
| 1939 | 23,639 | #4 |
| 1940 | 22,077 | #5 |
| 1941 | 20,905 | #7 |
| 1942 | 21,659 | #9 |
| 1943 | 21,596 | #10 |
| 1944 | 19,761 | #10 |
| 1945 | 18,387 | #11 |
| 1946 | 19,711 | #14 |
| 1947 | 18,966 | #17 |
| 1948 | 16,625 | #18 |
| 1949 | 14,936 | #22 |
| 1950 | 13,615 | #26 |
| 1951 | 12,822 | #29 |
| 1952 | 12,129 | #32 |
| 1953 | 11,369 | #33 |
| 1954 | 10,620 | #36 |
| 1955 | 9,924 | #36 |
| 1956 | 9,218 | #44 |
| 1957 | 8,479 | #50 |
| 1958 | 7,715 | #54 |
| 1959 | 7,313 | #59 |
| 1960 | 6,501 | #68 |
| 1961 | 5,584 | #87 |
| 1962 | 4,763 | #97 |
| 1963 | 4,156 | #104 |
| 1964 | 4,070 | #102 |
| 1965 | 3,566 | #103 |
| 1966 | 2,946 | #121 |
| 1967 | 2,543 | #137 |
| 1968 | 2,133 | #153 |
| 1969 | 2,135 | #154 |
| 1970 | 1,966 | #169 |
| 1971 | 1,764 | #175 |
| 1972 | 1,364 | #204 |
| 1973 | 1,322 | #196 |
| 1974 | 1,131 | #228 |
| 1975 | 1,021 | #237 |
| 1976 | 908 | #262 |
| 1977 | 808 | #293 |
| 1978 | 714 | #321 |
| 1979 | 710 | #331 |
| 1980 | 658 | #358 |
| 1981 | 662 | #354 |
| 1982 | 635 | #364 |
| 1983 | 564 | #390 |
| 1984 | 504 | #423 |
| 1985 | 502 | #437 |
| 1986 | 408 | #510 |
| 1987 | 436 | #497 |
| 1988 | 395 | #552 |
| 1989 | 399 | #561 |
| 1990 | 406 | #572 |
| 1991 | 346 | #642 |
| 1992 | 296 | #722 |
| 1993 | 292 | #725 |
| 1994 | 276 | #751 |
| 1995 | 236 | #830 |
| 1996 | 217 | #904 |
| 1997 | 189 | #1,019 |
| 1998 | 197 | #1,010 |
| 1999 | 183 | #1,088 |
| 2000 | 176 | #1,150 |
| 2001 | 154 | #1,277 |
| 2002 | 129 | #1,480 |
| 2003 | 148 | #1,365 |
| 2004 | 140 | #1,453 |
| 2005 | 135 | #1,525 |
| 2006 | 138 | #1,567 |
| 2007 | 135 | #1,645 |
| 2008 | 141 | #1,605 |
| 2009 | 150 | #1,516 |
| 2010 | 136 | #1,593 |
| 2011 | 167 | #1,372 |
| 2012 | 141 | #1,552 |
| 2013 | 177 | #1,321 |
| 2014 | 196 | #1,240 |
| 2015 | 192 | #1,266 |
| 2016 | 179 | #1,327 |
| 2017 | 177 | #1,317 |
| 2018 | 216 | #1,130 |
| 2019 | 163 | #1,377 |
| 2020 | 198 | #1,173 |
| 2021 | 205 | #1,187 |
| 2022 | 210 | #1,157 |
| 2023 | 202 | #1,186 |
| 2024 | 253 | #1,012 |
| 2025 | 212 | #1,113 |
How these numbers are counted
Social Security publishes, for every year since 1880, how many babies of each sex were given each name, counting any name given to at least 5. A name’s rank is its place that year among names for the same sex, by number of babies. Names with the same count share a rank here, while Social Security’s own lists break ties alphabetically, so a rank can differ from theirs by a place or two. A name’s share is the number of babies given it divided by all babies of that sex in the data that year, and its peak is the year that share was highest. Shares rather than counts set the peak, because far more babies were born in some years than others: counting babies alone would pull nearly every name’s peak toward the 1946–1964 baby boom.
Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.