Bettye
Feminine · “my God is an oath”
Bettye is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 22,920 girls against 47 boys since 1880.
Bettye is Betty with a decorative final e — a spelling that adds nothing audible and a good deal of individuality, which was exactly the point in the American registers of the 1930s.
How old is the name Bettye?
Bettye first appears in US birth records in 1883 — 142 years ago. The typical Bettye alive today was born around 1938, making them about 87 years old. About 9,500 people named Bettye are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bettye most popular?
Bettye peaked in 1933, reaching #220 nationally. See the whole 1933 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Elisheva to Bettye
The story of Bettye
Elizabeth produced more short forms than any other English name, and Betty was among the most durable, in ordinary use by the seventeenth century and a legal name in its own right by the nineteenth. It reached the very top of the American chart in the 1930s — and a name that common invites individuation, which is where Bettye, Bettie and Bettina come from. Bettye peaked in the late 1930s, at the crest of the parent name's popularity.
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
- Betty
- Bettye
Related forms: Betty · Bettie · Bettina
Pronouncing Bettye
BET-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first. The final e is silent; Bettye and Betty are homophones.
Nicknames for Bettye
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
- 1883
- Most girls named
- 1930751 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #220reached in 1933
- Change vs 1996
- 0.0%5 in 1998, from 5
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.
Bettye in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Betty in English — spelling variant
- Bettie in English — spelling variant
- Bettina in German — related form
Bettyes among us
people named Bettye 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
Bettye has already lived its whole cycle: it rose, had its era, and has stepped off the charts. The fashion question is behind it — what lies ahead is the waiting room where revivals begin, once a name's first generation has grown distant enough for it to sound fresh again.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Elizabeth stands behind it as one of the deepest names in the language.
- The final e gives the written name a distinct identity at no cost in sound.
- Short, bright and easy for a child to write early.
- The e does no audible work, so the spelling must be given every time.
- It is firmly period-coded to the 1930s and 1940s.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Bettye 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 Bettye? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Bettye
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Bettyes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 9,500 people named Bettye are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Bettye in 2025?
- Bettye is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Bettye with classmates?
- Bettye 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 Bettye? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Bettye 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