Bette
A diminutive form of the feminine given name Elizabeth, of Hebrew origin meaning "pledged to God".
Name Census estimates that about 8,069 living Americans carry the first name Bette. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bette today is around 76 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bette births was 1924 (1,742 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bette. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Bette with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Bette is about 76 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bettes were born before 1960.
- • Compared to the 1920s, recent registration numbers for Bette have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
8.1K
~ 1 in 42,478 Americans
Peak year
1924
1,742 babies that year
Average age
76
years old
1940 SSA rank
#3,495
Tracked since 1896
Census
Bette in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 12,620 people with the first name Bette, which placed it at #2,124 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
#2,124
National first-name rank
People counted
13K
12,620 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
92.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bette
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bette is White at 92.9%. The next largest groups are Black (3.2%) and Hispanic (1.3%). 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 Bette 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 Bette at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.9% · 11,728
- Black or African American3.2% · 404
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 164
- Two or more races1.3% · 159
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 103
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 62
Gender
Gender distribution for Bette
Out of the 34,911 babies given the name Bette since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Bette as a male name
- Ranked #3,495 in 1940
- 5 male births in 1940
- Peak: 1924 (6 births)
Bette as a female name
- Ranked #9,009 in 2024
- 11 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1924 (1,736 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bette appears almost entirely female. Of the 12,626 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Bette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bette from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 13,285 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bette 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 Bette during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bettes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 47 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York recorded the most babies named Bette, while New Mexico, Vermont, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 683 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bette
The name Bette is a feminine given name derived from the Old French word "Bete," which means "blessed" or "holy." It is a contracted form of the name Elizabeth, which has its roots in the Hebrew name "Elisheva," meaning "God is my oath."
The name Bette first appeared in Europe during the Middle Ages, particularly in France and England. It gained popularity as a diminutive form of Elizabeth, which was a common name among royalty and nobility. The earliest recorded use of the name Bette dates back to the 13th century.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Bette was Bette de Bourgueville, a French historian and writer who lived from 1545 to 1632. She is known for her work "Les Recherches et Antiquitez de la Province de Neustrie," which chronicled the history of Normandy.
In the 16th century, Bette de Verneuil, a French noblewoman and mistress of King Henry IV of France, was a notable figure. She was born in 1579 and played a significant role in the political affairs of the time.
The name Bette gained further prominence in the 20th century with the rise of Hollywood and the film industry. Bette Davis, the legendary American actress, was born in 1908 and won two Academy Awards for her performances in "Dangerous" (1935) and "Jezebel" (1938). She was renowned for her intense acting style and was often cast in roles portraying strong, independent women.
Another famous Bette was Bette Midler, the American singer, actress, and comedian. Born in 1945, she is known for her distinctive vocal style and her work in films such as "The Rose" (1979), for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
Bette Nesmith Graham, born in 1924, was an American artist and inventor. She is credited with the invention of Liquid Paper, the first correction fluid for typewriters. Her invention revolutionized the office supply industry and made her a successful entrepreneur.
While the name Bette has its origins in Europe, it has been embraced globally, with notable individuals bearing the name from various cultures and backgrounds.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Bette
People
Bette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bette 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
Bette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,069 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bette 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 42,478 US residents.
Is Bette a common name?
We classify Bette as "Rare". It ranks above 97.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 34,911 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bette most popular?
The single biggest year for Bette was 1924, when 1,742 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bette is about 76 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bette in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 12,620 people with the name Bette, or 4.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,124 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 Bette 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 Bette?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bette appears almost entirely female. Of the 12,626 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Bette?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bette is White at 92.9%. The next largest groups are Black (3.2%) and Hispanic (1.3%). 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 Bette most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.9% (11,728 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 Bette in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bette a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Bette 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 Bette still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bette 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 Bette 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 Americans are named Bette?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.