Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Betty?
Births per year, rank history and how many Betties are alive today.
Betty (female), once a common girls' name, is now an uncommon choice for new babies in England and Wales, ranked 391st in 2025 with 108 given the name. The name peaked in 1924, when around 7,700 babies were given the name, the 11th most popular that year. It has declined since 1924; the 2025 figure is roughly 1% of its peak. Numbers have been stable in recent years. At least 120,000 babies have been named Betty in England and Wales since the 1900s. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Common short forms of Betty include Eliza, Libby and Beth. Betty is also a common short form of Elizabeth, so many people called Betty are registered under the longer name.
The Betty you are most likely to meet is around 95 years old. Half of all Betties born in England and Wales are between 63 and 93, and there are at least 31,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 females, there's roughly a 9.4% chance that at least one of them will be called Betty.
How many babies are named Betty each year?
Where does Betty rank among girls' names?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Betty most popular?
Betty peaked in 1924, when around 7,700 babies in England and Wales were given the name.
How many people are called Betty?
At least 31,000 people named Betty born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Betty?
Most living Betties are between 63 and 93; the most common age is about 95.
Is Betty becoming more or less popular?
Well past its peak: today's figures are a fraction of the 1924 peak, though numbers have levelled off in recent years.