Find out how popular the last name Bethany is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Bethany.

Bethany, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Bethany surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bethany in America

Bethany is the 25833rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bethany surname appeared 953 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Bethany.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bethany to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Bethany

The surname Bethany is believed to have originated in the Middle East, likely in the region of ancient Judea or modern-day Israel. It is derived from the biblical place name Bethany, a village near Jerusalem where Jesus is said to have raised Lazarus from the dead.

The name Bethany itself is thought to come from the Aramaic words "beth" meaning "house" and "aniya" meaning "poor" or "afflicted." Therefore, the name Bethany can be interpreted as "house of the poor" or "house of affliction."

Some of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Bethany can be found in medieval European records, particularly in England and France. It is believed that the name was brought to these regions by crusaders returning from the Holy Land or by pilgrims who had visited the biblical site of Bethany.

One notable early bearer of the surname was Sir John Bethany, a English knight who lived in the 14th century and fought in the Hundred Years' War against France. Another notable figure was William Bethany, a merchant and alderman in the city of London in the 15th century.

In the 16th century, the surname Bethany appeared in various spellings such as Bethanie, Bethanye, and Bethenay. During this time, a prominent individual named Thomas Bethenay was a member of the English Parliament and served as the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire in 1567.

In the 17th century, a family with the surname Bethany owned a manor in the village of Bethany in Shropshire, England. This may have contributed to the association of the surname with that particular place name.

Other notable individuals with the surname Bethany include Mary Bethany, a British writer and poet born in 1768, and John Bethany, an American soldier who fought in the Revolutionary War and was awarded the Badge of Military Merit by George Washington in 1782.

While the surname Bethany is relatively uncommon, it has a rich historical background rooted in biblical and medieval European contexts, reflecting its origins as a place name associated with significant religious and historical events.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bethany

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Bethany.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Bethany was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Bethany has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Bethany was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Bethany, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!