Bittany
A feminine name derived from Brittany, a region in France.
Name Census estimates that about 21 living Americans carry the first name Bittany. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bittany today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bittany births was 1985 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bittany. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Bittany. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
21
~ 1 in 16,321,635 Americans
Peak year
1985
6 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
1990 SSA rank
#13,215
Tracked since 1985
Popularity
Bittany: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bittany from the 1980s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 17 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
Bittany 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 Bittany 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 Bittany
The name Bittany has its origins in the ancient Celtic language and is derived from the word "bitu," meaning "world" or "life." This name was primarily used in the region now known as Brittany, a cultural region in the northwest of France. The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 5th century AD, when the Brittonic Celts migrated to the region from Britain.
During the Middle Ages, the name Bittany was often associated with the Duchy of Brittany, a semi-independent state that existed from the 9th to the 16th century. One notable historical figure bearing this name was Bittany of Normandy (1021-1076), also known as Beatrice of Normandy, who was the Duchess of Normandy and the wife of William the Conqueror.
In the 12th century, the name Bittany gained some popularity among the nobility in England, likely due to the influence of the Norman conquest. One famous bearer of this name was Bittany of Anjou (1144-1189), who was the daughter of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the wife of Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse.
The name Bittany also has connections to the Crusades, as it was borne by several prominent crusaders during the 12th and 13th centuries. One such figure was Bittany of Burgundy (1145-1184), who participated in the Third Crusade and was a member of the Order of the Temple.
In the realm of literature, the name Bittany is associated with the character of Bittany, the heroine of the 14th-century French romance "Le Roman de la Rose" by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun. This allegorical work was widely influential in medieval Europe and helped to popularize the name further.
Other notable historical figures named Bittany include Bittany of Savoy (1398-1430), a Duchess of Milan and the wife of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, and Bittany of Navarre (1426-1492), who was the Queen of Navarre and a noted patron of the arts and literature.
People
Bittany + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bittany 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
Bittany: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bittany?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bittany 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 16,321,635 US residents.
Is Bittany a common name?
We classify Bittany as "Very Rare". It ranks above 40.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 22 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bittany most popular?
The single biggest year for Bittany was 1985, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bittany is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Bittany in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bittany a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bittany 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 Bittany still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bittany 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 Bittany 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Bittany as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Bittany, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.