Bethani
Feminine · “house of dates”
Bethany is a village on the far side of the Mount of Olives, about two miles from Jerusalem, and it is where the most startling story in the gospels takes place. The name means either the house of dates or the house of the poor, and the argument about which has been running for a long time.
How old is the name Bethani?
Bethani first appears in US birth records in 1967 — 58 years ago. The typical Bethani alive today was born around 1993, making them about 32 years old. About 1,000 people named Bethani are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bethani most popular?
Bethani peaked in 1988, reaching #2369 nationally. See the whole 1988 chart.
Where it comes from
From an Aramaic place name beginning with the word for a house to Bethani
The story of Bethani
It is a small place with an unusual density of events. Jesus stays there rather than in Jerusalem during the last week; a woman pours out an entire jar of perfume worth a year's wages over his head, and is defended when the room objects to the waste; and the raising of Lazarus happens there, which is the point at which the authorities decide the situation has to end. The village is now a town on the other side of a wall, and the tomb is under a mosque with a church beside it.
Meaningscholars disagree
house of dates, or house of the poor
The place name is Aramaic and begins with the word for a house, which opens a great many Semitic place names — Bethlehem is the house of bread, Bethel the house of God. The second element is disputed: a word for dates or figs, a word for affliction or poverty, or a personal name. The village had a house for the sick outside the walls, which supports one reading, and date palms, which supports another.
How the name formed
- an Aramaic place name beginning with the word for a house
- a village two miles from Jerusalem
- English takes the place name as a woman's name after the Reformation
- an American wave in the 1970s and 1980s
- Bethani appears among the respellings
Related forms: Bethany · Beth Anya
Pronouncing Bethani
BETH-uh-nee
Three syllables with the stress at the front. The bare final i writes the same sound as the y and dates the spelling closely.
Nicknames for Bethani
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
- 1967
- Most girls named
- 198846 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2369reached in 1988
- Change vs 2014
- +16.7%7 in 2015, 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.
Bethani in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bethany in English — spelling variant
- Beth Anya in Aramaic — related form
Bethanis among us
people named Bethani are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Bethani 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
- Beth is available and is a complete name with its own long history.
- It is read correctly at sight and holds no surprises.
- The place behind it is real, small and well documented.
- Bethany is far commoner and the ending will be corrected regularly.
- The bare final i dates a certificate to the last decades of the century.
- The meaning is genuinely disputed and cannot be given with confidence.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Bethani to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Bethani? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Bethani
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Bethanis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Bethani are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Bethani in 2025?
- Bethani is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Bethani with classmates?
- Bethani will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More B names
The most-given names starting with B, all years combined.
Barbara#968 · Betty#1113 · Brenda#1525 · Beverly#1016 · Brittany#928 · Bonnie#396 · Brianna#222 · Bertha#4546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bethani? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Bethani and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle