Beatrice
Masculine · “she who makes happy”
Beatrice is given to girls far more often — 194,920 girls against 733 boys since 1880. See Beatrice as a girl name
Beatrice is recorded for boys and girls alike. In the play that most English readers meet it in, the character is technically the secondary one and takes over the whole thing.
How old is the name Beatrice?
Beatrice first appears in US birth records in 1892 — 133 years ago. The typical Beatrice alive today was born around 1926, making them about 99 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Beatrice are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Beatrice most popular?
Beatrice peaked in 1900, reaching #743 nationally. See the whole 1900 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Beatrice
Much Ado About Nothing has a main plot about Hero, who is slandered at her own wedding, and a secondary plot about her cousin Beatrice, who spends the play arguing with a man she clearly likes. The secondary plot has all the good writing. Beatrice gets the wit, the best prose in the play, and one short scene in which the comedy stops dead and she asks the man to kill his friend, which is the moment the whole thing turns. Audiences have always known which plot they came for, and productions that try to rebalance it generally give up. It is a play named after nothing, about a wedding, remembered for two people who are not getting married.
Meaning
she who makes happy
The Latin name is built on a word about blessing or happiness, and the reading is settled in that form. The record does not explain the name's occasional use for boys in America.
Pronouncing Beatrice
BEE-uh-triss
Three syllables with the stress in front. The Italian form is four syllables and is said bay-ah-TREE-chay.
Nicknames for Beatrice
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1892
- Most boys named
- 192928 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #743reached in 1900
- Change vs 1960
- +33.3%8 in 1989, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Beatrice in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Beatrice in Italian — same name
- Beatriz in Spanish — same name
- Béatrice in French — same name
Beatrices among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Beatrice are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Beatrice sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Bea and Trixie are both available as short forms and are very different in register.
- It works across English, Italian, Spanish and French with only a shift of stress.
- The meaning is settled and pleasant to hand a child.
- The English and Italian pronunciations are quite different, which matters in a mixed household.
- This spelling goes overwhelmingly to girls but is recorded for boys as well, so a form will occasionally guess wrong.
- It reads as a name of an older generation to some American ears, which is either the appeal or the obstacle.
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What they receive
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Beatrice
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Beatrices are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. Fewer than a hundred people named Beatrice are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How popular is the name Beatrice in 2025?
- Beatrice is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Beatrice with classmates?
- Beatrice will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More B names
The most-given names starting with B, all years combined.
Brian#339 · Benjamin#11 · Brandon#261 · Bryan#336 · Bruce#536 · Billy#1068 · Bobby#1097 · Bradley#403
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Beatrice? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Beatrice and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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