Bettyjo
A feminine given name formed from combining the Betty and Jo names.
Name Census estimates that about 437 living Americans carry the first name Bettyjo. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bettyjo today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bettyjo births was 1965 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bettyjo. 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
437
~ 1 in 784,335 Americans
Peak year
1965
31 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
2021 SSA rank
#15,634
Tracked since 1920
Census
Bettyjo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,822 people with the first name Bettyjo, which placed it at #8,075 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
#8,075
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,822 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bettyjo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bettyjo is White at 88.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.0%) and Black (3.3%). 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 Bettyjo 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 Bettyjo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.0% · 1,603
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 92
- Black or African American3.3% · 60
- Two or more races2.6% · 47
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 8
Popularity
Bettyjo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bettyjo from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 152 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bettyjo 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 Bettyjo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bettyjo
The name Bettyjo is a relatively modern combination of the two names Betty and Jo. Betty is a pet form of the name Elizabeth, derived from the Hebrew name Elisheva, meaning "God is my oath" or "God's promise." The name Elizabeth has been popular throughout history, with notable bearers including Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603) and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902), a prominent figure in the women's rights movement.
Jo, on the other hand, is a diminutive form of the name Josephine, which itself is the feminine form of the Hebrew name Joseph, meaning "he will add." Josephine has been a popular name throughout history, with notable bearers including Josephine Bonaparte (1763-1814), the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, and Josephine Baker (1906-1975), an American-born French dancer and singer.
The combination of Betty and Jo into Bettyjo likely emerged in the early to mid-20th century as a unique and playful variation of these traditional names. While the name's origins are relatively recent, it has gained popularity as a distinctive and memorable choice.
One notable bearer of the name Bettyjo was Bettyjo Hallock (1921-2001), an American actress and television personality who appeared in various films and television shows in the 1950s and 1960s. Another notable figure was Bettyjo Monahan (1923-2021), an American politician and educator who served as the first woman mayor of Tucson, Arizona, from 1971 to 1975.
Additionally, Bettyjo Cathy (born 1938) is the wife of S. Truett Cathy, the founder of the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain, and has been actively involved in the company's philanthropic efforts. Bettyjo Rambo (born 1950) is an American country music singer-songwriter who has penned several hit songs for various artists.
While historical records of the name Bettyjo may be limited due to its relatively recent origins, it has gained popularity as a unique and memorable choice, often reflecting a playful and creative spirit.
People
Bettyjo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bettyjo 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
Bettyjo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bettyjo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 437 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bettyjo 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 784,335 US residents.
Is Bettyjo a common name?
We classify Bettyjo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 771 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bettyjo most popular?
The single biggest year for Bettyjo was 1965, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bettyjo is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bettyjo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,822 people with the name Bettyjo, or 0.60 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,075 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 Bettyjo 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 Bettyjo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bettyjo appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,820 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 Bettyjo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bettyjo is White at 88.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.0%) and Black (3.3%). 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 Bettyjo most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bettyjo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.0% (1,603 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 Bettyjo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bettyjo a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bettyjo 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 Bettyjo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bettyjo 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 Bettyjo 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 the name Bettyjo?
See how many people share the name Bettyjo on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.