Bethzaida
A feminine name of Aramaic origin meaning "house of fish" or "fishing house".
Name Census estimates that about 299 living Americans carry the first name Bethzaida. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bethzaida today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bethzaida births was 2004 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bethzaida. 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.
People living today
299
~ 1 in 1,146,336 Americans
Peak year
2004
23 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2014 SSA rank
#13,296
Tracked since 1957
Popularity
Bethzaida: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bethzaida from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 94 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bethzaida 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 Bethzaida during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bethzaidas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Bethzaida
The name Bethzaida is of Aramaic origin, derived from the words "beth" meaning "house" and "tzayada" meaning "fisher" or "hunter." It is believed to have originated in the region of ancient Galilee, which was part of the Roman province of Judea during the time of Jesus Christ.
Bethzaida is mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible as a city located near the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus performed several miracles, including the feeding of the 5,000 and the healing of a blind man. It was also the hometown of some of Jesus' disciples, including Peter, Andrew, and Philip.
The earliest recorded use of the name Bethzaida dates back to the 1st century AD, as it appears in the biblical accounts of the Gospels. However, there are no known historical records of individuals specifically named Bethzaida from that time period.
Throughout history, the name Bethzaida has been used sporadically, often in connection with religious or theological contexts due to its biblical roots. One notable person with this name was Bethzaida of Lüneburg (1390-1469), a German nun and mystic who is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
Another individual named Bethzaida was Bethzaida d'Oliveyra (1506-1567), a Portuguese noblewoman and abbess who played a significant role in the establishment of religious institutions in her country.
In the 19th century, Bethzaida Velásquez (1832-1912) was a Venezuelan writer and activist who advocated for women's rights and education in her country.
More recently, Bethzaida Pascual (1953-2021) was a Puerto Rican actress and television personality known for her work in Spanish-language television and films.
Bethzaida Bello (born 1980) is a contemporary Venezuelan model and beauty queen who represented her country in the Miss Universe pageant in 2002.
While the name Bethzaida has not been widely popular throughout history, its biblical origins and unique sound have ensured its continued, albeit limited, use in various cultures and contexts.
People
Bethzaida + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bethzaida 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
Bethzaida: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bethzaida?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 299 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bethzaida 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 1,146,336 US residents.
Is Bethzaida a common name?
We classify Bethzaida as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 321 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bethzaida most popular?
The single biggest year for Bethzaida was 2004, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bethzaida is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Bethzaida a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bethzaida 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.
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.