Bettye
Feminine form of the English name Betty, from the pet name for Elizabeth.
Name Census estimates that about 6,930 living Americans carry the first name Bettye. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bettye today is around 78 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bettye births was 1933 (763 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bettye. 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 Bettye is about 78 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bettyes were born before 1958.
People living today
6.9K
~ 1 in 49,460 Americans
Peak year
1933
763 babies that year
Average age
78
years old
1942 SSA rank
#3,618
Tracked since 1883
Census
Bettye in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,510 people with the first name Bettye, which placed it at #2,748 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
#2,748
National first-name rank
People counted
8.5K
8,510 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bettye
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bettye is White at 51.0%. The next largest groups are Black (46.4%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Bettye 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 Bettye at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.0% · 4,343
- Black or African American46.4% · 3,946
- Two or more races1.7% · 143
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 50
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Bettye
Out of the 22,967 babies given the name Bettye since 1880, 99.8% 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.
Bettye as a male name
- Ranked #3,618 in 1942
- 5 male births in 1942
- Peak: 1940 (8 births)
Bettye as a female name
- Ranked #14,435 in 1998
- 5 female births in 1998
- Peak: 1933 (763 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bettye appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,510 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Bettye: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bettye from the 1880s through to the 1990s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 7,080 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bettye 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 Bettye during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bettyes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 27 states and territories. Texas, Tennessee, Alabama recorded the most babies named Bettye, while Colorado, New Mexico, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 771 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bettye
The name Bettye is a variant spelling of the English name Betty, which is a pet form of the name Elizabeth. Elizabeth is derived from the Hebrew name Elisheva, meaning "God is my oath" or "consecrated to God." The name Elizabeth was introduced to England by the Normans after the Norman Conquest in the 11th century.
The earliest recorded use of the name Bettye dates back to the late 16th century in England. It was initially used as a diminutive form of Elizabeth, but eventually became a name in its own right. The variant spelling with the addition of the letter "y" was likely influenced by the popularity of similar names like Betsy and Bessie during that time period.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Bettye was Bettye Danoff (1923-2011), an American painter and arts educator known for her abstract expressionist works. She was a prominent figure in the New York City art scene during the mid-20th century.
In the realm of literature, Bettye Naomi Goldstein (1923-2005), better known by her pen name Bettye Goldstein, was an American author and journalist. She wrote several novels and non-fiction works, including the influential book "Raised in the Fifties: A Personal Memoir."
In the world of sports, Bettye Caldwell (born 1940) was a pioneering American track and field athlete. She won gold medals in the 100-meter dash and the 4x100-meter relay at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, becoming the first African American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field.
Another notable figure was Bettye Lane (1930-2003), an American actress and dancer. She appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout the 1950s and 1960s, including popular westerns like "Gunsmoke" and "The Rifleman."
Finally, Bettye LaVette (born 1946) is an American soul singer and songwriter who has been active in the music industry since the 1960s. Known for her powerful and gritty vocals, she has had a long and acclaimed career, receiving numerous awards and accolades, including a Grammy nomination in 2023.
People
Bettye + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bettye 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
Bettye: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bettye?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,930 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bettye 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 49,460 US residents.
Is Bettye a common name?
We classify Bettye as "Rare". It ranks above 97.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 22,967 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bettye most popular?
The single biggest year for Bettye was 1933, when 763 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bettye is about 78 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bettye in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,510 people with the name Bettye, or 2.82 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,748 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 Bettye 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 Bettye?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bettye appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,510 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 Bettye?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bettye is White at 51.0%. The next largest groups are Black (46.4%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Bettye most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bettye in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.0% (4,343 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 Bettye in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bettye a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Bettye 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 Bettye still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bettye 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 Bettye 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 common is the name Bettye?
See how many Americans are named Bettye on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.