Betsy
Feminine · “my God is an oath”
Betsy is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 48,947 girls against 10 boys since 1880.
Betsy is Elizabeth with a Scottish ending, and it is the form an American flag-maker is remembered by — whether or not she made the flag.
How old is the name Betsy?
Betsy was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Betsy alive today was born around 1960, making them about 65 years old. About 36,500 people named Betsy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Betsy most popular?
Betsy peaked in 1959, reaching #228 nationally. Today it ranks #2719, 2,491 places below that high. See the whole 1959 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Elisheva to Betsy
The story of Betsy
Elizabeth produced more short forms than any other English name, and Betsy is Bet with a diminutive ending that Scotland used freely. It was in ordinary use by the seventeenth century and became an independent name in the eighteenth. Betsy Ross's flag story is a nineteenth-century family tradition rather than documented history, but it fixed the name in American memory. It peaked around 1950.
Meaning
my God is an oath
Through Elizabeth, from the Hebrew Elisheva — el, 'God', and sheva, 'oath' or 'seven', two words linked in Hebrew. A second reading of the same elements gives 'my God is abundance'. Both are standard.
How the name formed
- Elisheva
- Elizabeth
- Bet
- Betsy
Related forms: Elisheva · Betsey · Betti
Pronouncing Betsy
BET-see
Two syllables, stress on the first. Betsy and Betsey are said identically.
Nicknames for Betsy
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 19601,252 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #228reached in 1959
- Change vs 2022
- −25.9%63 in 2025, from 85
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.
Betsy in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Elisheva in Hebrew — related form
- Betsey in English — spelling variant
- Betti in German — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Pennsylvania.
Betsys among us
people named Betsy are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 25,512 born in 2025 was named Betsy
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Nadine test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Betsy's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Nadine climbed just as high around 1926, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Nadine's path sketches the road Betsy is walking now.
Betsy sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Betsy is headed
Betsy should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Betsy beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Betsy in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Elizabeth stands behind it as one of the deepest names in the language.
- It carries a specific and much-loved piece of American folklore.
- Warm and immediately easy for a child to say and spell.
- The flag story is a family tradition rather than documented history.
- As a diminutive it stays informal unless Elizabeth is on the certificate.
- It is period-coded to the middle of the twentieth century.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Betsy to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Betsy
Feminine · #2719 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Betsys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 36,500 people named Betsy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Betsy in 2025?
- Betsy ranks #2719 among US girl names in 2025, with 63 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Betsy?
- About 1 in every 25,512 US girls born in 2025 was named Betsy — 63 in all.
- Will my child share the name Betsy with classmates?
- Betsy will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Betsy
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Carley#2719 · Emy#2719 · Asher#2719 · Aditi#2719 · Kaliana#2719 · Ryver#2719 · Morrigan#2719 · Wynonna#2719
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Betsy? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Betsy and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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