Betheny
A feminine name of English origin meaning "young matron".
Name Census estimates that about 250 living Americans carry the first name Betheny. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Betheny today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Betheny births was 1988 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Betheny. 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 Betheny with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
250
~ 1 in 1,371,017 Americans
Peak year
1988
14 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2015 SSA rank
#16,866
Tracked since 1959
Census
Betheny in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 345 people with the first name Betheny, which placed it at #26,793 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
#26,793
National first-name rank
People counted
345
345 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Betheny
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Betheny is White at 79.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.7%) and Black (5.2%). 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 Betheny 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 Betheny at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.1% · 273
- Hispanic or Latino8.7% · 30
- Black or African American5.2% · 18
- Two or more races3.5% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 4
Popularity
Betheny: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Betheny from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 100 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
Betheny 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 Betheny during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bethenys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Betheny
The name Betheny is believed to have originated from the Hebrew language and culture. It is a variant spelling of the biblical name Bethany, which is derived from the Aramaic words "bet" meaning "house" and "anya" meaning "dates" or "date palm." This suggests that the name may have been originally associated with a place or location known for its abundance of date palm trees.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Bethany can be found in the New Testament of the Bible, where it is mentioned as the name of a village near Jerusalem. This village was the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead according to the biblical account.
While the exact origin and meaning of the variant spelling "Betheny" is unclear, it is possible that it emerged as a phonetic variation or alternate spelling of the original name Bethany. Over time, different spellings and pronunciations of names often arise due to regional variations, linguistic influences, and cultural adaptations.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Betheny. One of the earliest recorded examples is Betheny Waring (1652-1718), an English writer and philosopher who was known for her work on natural philosophy and metaphysics. Another notable figure was Betheny Pickering (1757-1829), an American pioneer and settler who played a significant role in the early settlement of Ohio.
In the 19th century, Betheny Whitmore (1817-1892) was a prominent American educator and advocate for women's rights. She founded several schools and actively campaigned for equal educational opportunities for women. Additionally, Betheny Stokes (1845-1918) was a British artist and painter known for her landscape paintings and portraiture.
More recently, Betheny Frankel (born 1970) is an American reality television personality, author, and entrepreneur who gained fame through her participation in the reality show "The Real Housewives of New York City."
It is important to note that while these historical references provide insight into the origins and usage of the name Betheny, the popularity and prevalence of the name may have evolved over time, and its contemporary use may differ from its historical context.
People
Betheny + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Betheny 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
Betheny: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Betheny?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 250 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Betheny 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 1,371,017 US residents.
Is Betheny a common name?
We classify Betheny as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 268 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Betheny most popular?
The single biggest year for Betheny was 1988, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Betheny is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Betheny in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 345 people with the name Betheny, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,793 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 Betheny 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 Betheny?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Betheny leans strongly female. 336 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Betheny?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Betheny is White at 79.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.7%) and Black (5.2%). 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 Betheny most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Betheny in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.1% (273 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 Betheny in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Betheny a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Betheny 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 Betheny still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Betheny 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 Betheny 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 Betheny?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Betheny on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.