The baby name Betty has gone full circle, from girl next door to grandma. It might soon be time to revive this sweetly vintage choice.
Thanks to Claire for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
ELIZABETH NICKNAME
In the Old Testament, the name is Elisheva – my God is an oath. By the time we reach the New Testament, it’s closer to Elizabeth. She’s the mother of John the Baptist, sister to Mary, and a saint in her own right, too.
No surprise, then, that the name is among the most evergreen of choices for girls, across time and language.
The spelling Elizabeth first surfaces in England in the 1200s, and really picked up steam when Queen Elizabeth I took the throne in 1558. The name has rarely been out of favor since.
All of those Elizabeths necessitated a long list of short forms: Tibby, Bess, Elsie, Eliza, Liza, Lizzie, Libby, Betsy, Beth, and, of course, Betty, are just a few.
It’s also worth noting that Betty may have been used as a nickname for Beatrice, Bertha, and Bethia over the years.
Plenty of these nicknames eventually felt more like independent choices, including the baby name Betty.
From 1928 through 1934, it ranked #2 in the US, right behind Mary. According to the US Social Security Administration, it’s #14 over the last one hundred years.
And that’s not counting a generation of women named Elizabeth who answered to the nickname, too.
BETTY ZANE
The baby name Betty wasn’t new in the 1920s.
Indeed, Elizabeth “Betty” Zane was a hero of the American Revolution.
They lived in Wheeling, West Virginia during the war. A group of Native Americans allied with the British attacked Fort Henry, where Betty and her parents were sheltering. As they ran low on gunpowder in the fort, she offered to run back into town for more. She made the mad dash. Accounts tell us that she was shot at, but not hit. Fort Henry managed to fend off attack until reinforcements arrived.
But this story from the late 1700s might have something to do with the name’s rise in the early twentieth century.
That’s because her great-grandnephew, the bestselling author Zane Grey, wrote a historical novel about his aunt, titled Betty Zane. He published it in 1903, his very first book.
1903 also marks the year that the baby name Betty entered the US Top 1000 and began a steady march to the top.
BOOP, GRABLE, DAVIS
The name continued to surface in pop culture. The American-English husband-and-wife authors CN and Am Williamson penned a series of stories featuring Lady Betty in 1906.
But it appears that the name peaked well before the most famous characters wore it.
Animated pin-up girl Betty Boop debuted in 1930. She was modeled after Clara Bow.
In 1936, Betty Haig won an Olympic gold medal in the Olympic Rally – the first and only time auto racing was part of the games.
World War II pin-up girl Betty Grable became so famous that her most famous photo is considered among the most influential of all time. She enjoyed a successful acting career in the 1940s and early 50s, before retiring from Hollywood in 1955, though she would appear on Broadway into the 1970s.
The Archie Comics gave us Betty Cooper.
And, of course, there’s Oscar-winning Bette Davis – born Ruth Elizabeth. From Broadway to Hollywood, her career spanned six decades. She changed the spelling of her name from Betty to Bette after a character in a Balzac play. During World War II, at the height of her success, she sold war bonds and worked tirelessly to entertain soldiers, ensuring that her fellow entertainers did the same. Davis earned the US Department of Defense’s highest civilian honor for efforts.
In some ways, Davis marks a shift for the name’s image from girl to woman.
CROCKER, FORD AND WHITE
It wasn’t just Bette Davis, though. The name was growing up.
As early as the 1920s, General Mills used fictional homemaker extraordinaire Betty Crocker to promote their products.
1960s animated series The Flinstones gave us Bedrock housewife Betty Rubble, bestie to Wilma Flinstone and wife of Fred’s pal, Barney.
In 1974, Gerald Ford took office as the 38th President of the United States. His wife, Elizabeth “Betty” Ann Ford became First Lady. Unlike some of her predecessors, she became active in social policy. The Betty Ford Center for substance dependence bears her name.
But the most famous Betty of the moment might be Betty White. She earned her first Emmy nomination way back in 1951, and her most recent in 2014.
Born in 1922, the Golden Girls alum links the name to a certain generation. And yet, the names of her co-stars and their characters in that unforgettable show have fared well: Sophia and Beatrice and Rose. She passed away late in 2021, at the age of 99 – a legend for our times.
Why not Betty?
DRAPER and SUAREZ
Not so long ago, Mad Men gave us Betty Draper, a suburban housewife more Davis than Crocker.
Then came Ugly Betty’s Betty Suarez, played by America Ferrera. The fashion world comedy was based on a telenovela called Yo soy Betty, la fea.
Neither show budged the name. It left the US popularity charts in 1996, and remained unranked, even as those series found early twenty-first century success.
BLAKE AND RYAN
Just 160 girls were named Betty in 2019. That’s not a new low, but it’s definitely not a pattern that suggest the name is ready for revival.
And yet, rumor has it that Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ youngest daughter is named Betty, a sister for James and Ines. Blake’s friend Taylor Swift included a song titled “Betty” on her new album. The lyrics also mention Ines and James, which sparked speculation that it was a name reveal. Swift later confirmed that the names were inspired by her “friend’s kids.”
For parents today, Betty feels vintage and gently old-fashioned. But there’s an edge, too.
Betty has long referred to either a female skateboarder – or maybe a hanger-on. But the 2020 HBO series Betty claims it as the former. (Though the characters are named far more contemporary things, like Indigo and Janay and Camille.)
The ever-so-stylish Gabrielle Blair, also known as Design Mom, has a daughter called Betty.
SWEETLY VINTAGE NICKNAME NAME
It’s a long and winding story. But there’s no question that the baby name Betty is overdue for a comeback. It feels fresher than Molly, every bit as sparky as Sadie.
Would you consider the baby name Betty for a daughter?
First published on March 11, 2011, this post was revised substantially and re-published on October 17, 2020.
Oof, I’ve always much preferred Betty to Betsy. My favorite nn for Elizabeth is Isa.
Betty and Betsy are my favorite nicknames for Elizabeth/Elisabeth. I’ve heard them used on a range of ages, and they always fit – never feeling too old or too young for any girl or woman.
Not a name I’d use, but always one I love to hear.
I guarantee you it doesn’t matter. In 10-15 years no one will remember it.
Don’t forget Betty from Dead Like Me! Great character!
I have an aunt named Betty, and yes, that is her full name. I’ve often wondered whether Auntie Betty was named in honour of her mother, my oma, whose first name was Elizabeth (although oma always went by her middle, Johanna [yo-hun-uh], or even just Hanna [hun-uh]). Perhaps I should stop wondering and simply just ask!
Because I grew up hearing the name being used as a given name and not a nickname it feels complete to me. I still have the doll that I named Betty after my aunt when I was three, even though most of my other childhood dolls have long since disappeared.
I grew up with a Great-Aunt Bettye as well, and the name has always seemed complete as a given name too. I love Bettye and have been wanting to use it for a daughter 🙂
My 21-year-old SD loves the name Betty and suggested it (repeatedly) when we were struggling to come up with Maria’s middle name. I think Betty will appear in the top 1000 this year, but I’m not ready to fall in love with it. While It feels fresher than Arlene or Marilyn, it still seems like the name of one of my mom’s friends.
Surprisingly considering Elizabeth’s evergreen status, I have no blood relatives named Elizabeth or Betty. Two of my SIL’s have a variant for a middle name and one of my cousins is married to a Lisa, but that’s it…
I much prefer Betsy as an Elizabeth nickname. I have known too many old-lady Bettys to see as anything but. I also like Elisabeth, nicknamed Elsie, or Ellie.
I lovelovelove the name Elisabeth. It’s one of my very favourites. I spell it with an s because I hate the way Liz and Lizzy sound. I love Lissa, though.
Anywho, I don’t particularly like any of the names that come from the “beth” end of it either. That’s my only qualm with Elisabeth.
Betsy is my friend’s mom’s name. And I think it’s growing on me.
But I’d rather have an Elisabeth “Liss or Lissa”.
🙂
As far as Elisabeth/Elizabeth pet forms go, I vastly prefer Betty to Lisa or Elise, although I prefer Betsy even more. Both Betty and Betsy seem more formal than another diminutive (often thought of as a full name) Juliet.
Betty’s Hotpot *giggles* Top notch reference there.
Thanks for using my suggestion, Abby!
Betty became a literary crush name for me after I read the book “Niagara Falls All Over Again” by Elizabeth McCracken. She used it as the name for a beautiful little girl, the daughter of one of the characters, and it suddenly occurred to me that be a great name to use today on a girl or a woman. There’s also the movie “Clueless,” where all the hot, popular girls were referred to as “Bettys.”
All the Elizabeths I knew growing up went by Liz, a nickname I never liked. That’s why if I were to ever use Betty, I would just use Betty.
How could I forget Clueless!
I agree – Liz falls flat to my ear. I’ve known a few Elizabeths, and they’ve answered to Liz, Ellie, Liza, and Betsy. I also had a great aunt named Betty. I’ve always assumed she was baptized Elizabeth, but it occurs to me that it might not be the case.