Bethany
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "house of dates".
Name Census estimates that about 95,021 living Americans carry the first name Bethany. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bethany today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bethany births was 1987 (3,307 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bethany. 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 Bethany with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Bethany is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 184 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
95K
~ 1 in 3,607 Americans
Peak year
1987
3,307 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2004 SSA rank
#727
Tracked since 1915
Census
Bethany in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 89,510 people with the first name Bethany, which placed it at #594 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
#594
National first-name rank
People counted
90K
89,510 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
29.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bethany
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bethany is White at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.6%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Bethany 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 Bethany at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.2% · 75,408
- Hispanic or Latino6.6% · 5,882
- Two or more races3.8% · 3,392
- Black or African American3.0% · 2,721
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 1,585
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 522
Gender
Gender distribution for Bethany
Out of the 100,718 babies given the name Bethany 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.
Bethany as a male name
- Ranked #8,220 in 2004
- 8 male births in 2004
- Peak: 1989 (15 births)
Bethany as a female name
- Ranked #727 in 2024
- 386 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1987 (3,294 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bethany appears almost entirely female. Of the 89,509 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Bethany: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bethany from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 29,436 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bethany 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 Bethany during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bethanys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Bethany, while District of Columbia, Wyoming, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,925 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bethany
The name Bethany originated from the Aramaic language, an ancient Semitic language that was widely spoken in the Middle East during the first millennium BCE. The name is derived from the Hebrew phrase "Beit Aniah," which translates to "house of affliction" or "house of poverty."
This name has a biblical connection, as it refers to the village of Bethany, located on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem. In the New Testament, Bethany is mentioned as the home of Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead. It was also the place where Jesus stayed during his final days before his crucifixion.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bethany can be found in the Gospel of John, where it is mentioned as the place where Jesus performed the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. This event is considered a pivotal moment in the life of Jesus and a symbol of his divine power.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Bethany. One of the most famous was Bethany Dillon (1857-1942), an American Christian missionary and teacher who spent over 50 years working in China. Another notable figure was Bethany Beardslee (1825-1883), an American Christian missionary and educator who established several schools in Syria and Lebanon.
In the realm of literature, the name Bethany gained prominence through the character of Bethany Meeks in the novel "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" by Ann Brashares, published in 2001. The character's name became popular among readers and contributed to the name's increased usage in the early 2000s.
Another notable bearer of the name was Bethany Hamilton (born 1990), a professional surfer from Hawaii who lost her left arm in a shark attack at the age of 13. Her story of resilience and determination inspired the 2011 film "Soul Surfer," which helped to further popularize the name.
Bethany Whitbeck (1795-1839) was an American educator and pioneer in the field of teaching the deaf. She established several schools for the deaf in New York and played a significant role in promoting education for those with hearing impairments.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have carried the name Bethany, each contributing to its rich cultural and historical significance.
People
Bethany + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bethany 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
Bethany: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bethany?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 95,021 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bethany 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 3,607 US residents.
Is Bethany a common name?
We classify Bethany as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 100,718 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bethany most popular?
The single biggest year for Bethany was 1987, when 3,307 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bethany is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bethany in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 89,510 people with the name Bethany, or 29.64 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #594 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 Bethany 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 Bethany?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bethany appears almost entirely female. Of the 89,509 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 Bethany?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bethany is White at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.6%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Bethany most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bethany in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.2% (75,408 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 Bethany in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bethany a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Bethany 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 Bethany still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bethany 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 Bethany 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 have Bethany as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Bethany, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.