Beda
A feminine German name meaning "prosperous" or "flourishing".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Beda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Beda today is around 101 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Beda births was 1918 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Beda. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Beda is about 101 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bedas were born before 1935.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Beda. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
1918
14 babies that year
Average age
101
years old
1940 SSA rank
#3,234
Tracked since 1884
Census
Beda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 611 people with the first name Beda, which placed it at #17,841 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#17,841
National first-name rank
People counted
611
611 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
50.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Beda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Beda is Hispanic at 50.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (28.3%) and White (17.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Beda described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Beda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino50.2% · 307
- Asian and Pacific Islander28.3% · 173
- White17.5% · 107
- Black or African American2.6% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 4
- Two or more races0.7% · 4
Popularity
Beda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Beda from the 1880s through to the 1940s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1890s, with 84 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1890s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Beda by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Beda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Beda
The name Beda is derived from the Old English language and has its origins in the Anglo-Saxon era of Britain. It is believed to be a shortened form of the Germanic name Biedohæd, which means "one who bids or prays". The name Beda was particularly popular among the monasteries and religious communities of Anglo-Saxon England.
One of the most notable historical figures to bear the name Beda was the Venerable Bede, a renowned English monk and scholar who lived from 672 to 735 AD. He is best known for his extensive writings on the history of the English people and the Church, including his masterpiece "Ecclesiastical History of the English People". Bede is often referred to as the "Father of English History" and is considered a leading intellectual figure of the Middle Ages.
Another prominent individual named Beda was Beda Venerabilis, a Benedictine monk and theologian who lived from around 673 to 735 AD. He was a close contemporary of the Venerable Bede and is sometimes confused with him due to their similar names and overlapping lifetimes. Beda Venerabilis was known for his contributions to the study of biblical exegesis and his commentary on the Book of Genesis.
In the 9th century, there was a Frankish monk and scholar named Beda the Grammarian, who lived from around 770 to 825 AD. He is credited with writing a comprehensive treatise on grammar and orthography, which was widely used in medieval Europe.
During the 12th century, there was a German theologian and philosopher named Beda Adze, who was born around 1120 and died in 1198. He is known for his writings on metaphysics and his contributions to the development of scholastic philosophy.
In the 15th century, there was an Italian humanist and scholar named Beda Valla, who lived from around 1405 to 1463. He was a notable figure in the Renaissance period and is remembered for his criticisms of the Latin Vulgate Bible and his advocacy for a more accurate translation based on the original Greek and Hebrew texts.
While the name Beda has its roots in the Anglo-Saxon period, it has continued to be used throughout history, albeit less frequently in modern times. The name carries a sense of reverence and intellectual pursuit, reflecting the scholarly and religious associations of some of its most notable bearers.
People
Beda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Beda as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Beda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Beda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Beda going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Beda a common name?
We classify Beda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 328 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Beda most popular?
The single biggest year for Beda was 1918, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Beda is about 101 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Beda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 611 people with the name Beda, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,841 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Beda in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Beda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Beda leans strongly female. 505 people counted with this name were female (81.8%), compared with 112 male bearers (18.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Beda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Beda is Hispanic at 50.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (28.3%) and White (17.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Beda most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Beda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.2% (307 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Beda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Beda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Beda in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Beda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Beda in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Beda can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Beda?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.