Beth vs Bettey
American parents have registered 159,755 Beths since 1880, against 119 Betteys. Beth is still ahead, with 45 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Beth Bettey
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Beth has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1884 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.
The closest they came was 1931, when Beth had 238 and Bettey had 9.
Side by side
| Beth | Bettey | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 159,755 | 119 |
| Most in one year | 6,731 | 9 |
| Babies in 2025 | 45 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 132,000 | 30 |
| Median age today | 60 | 77 |
| Peak year | 1961 | 1922 |
| Best rank | 65th girls | 3,379th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 3,389th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1884 | 1922 |
| Girls / boys | 159,430 / 325 | 119 / 0 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Betteys alive today are over 77; half the Beths are over 60. That is 17 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Beth and Bettey.