Recorded 1883–1998 · United States
Bettye was most popular in 1933, when 763 American babies were given the name — ranking #397 that year. It was not recorded in 2025. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 22,967 people named Bettye.
Bettye first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1883, which makes it about 142 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 102 of the 143 years since. It was last recorded in 1998.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 22,967 American births named Bettye between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 8,958 are estimated to be alive today.
Bettye was not recorded in 2025. The SSA withholds any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so fewer than five American babies were given it.
Across the whole record Bettye is a girl’s name — 99.8% of the 22,967 Americans given it were girls and 0.2% were boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 8,958 Americans named Bettye are alive today — 39% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 80 years old, and half are between 75 and 85. That is a narrow band: Bettye arrived and faded within about a decade rather than staying in steady use.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Bettye on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org