Becky
Becky was the 3992nd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 36 babies. Its best year was 1959, when it ranked 102nd with 4,755 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 1,024 places. More babies were named Becky in the 1960s than in any other decade.
Meaning pet form of Rebecca · English, Hebrew
Say it BEK-ee /ˈbɛki/
- Rank in 2025
- #3,992 girls, down 366 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 36girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19594,755 babies
- Total since 1880
- 87,042babies recorded
What does the name Becky mean?
Becky is a pet form of Rebecca, as Wiktionary notes. Rebecca is Hebrew Rivkah, wife of Isaac and mother of Jacob and Esau; DMNES glosses the name 'connection', from a Semitic root meaning 'to join, couple, tie'. Becky Thatcher in Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer (1876) is a famous bearer.
רִבְקָה (Rivkah) (Biblical Hebrew, “Rebecca; 'connection'”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Rebecca, Becca, Reba, Rivka.
See also: Hebrew names.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Becky', Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, ed. S. L. Uckelman, Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Rebecca', DMNES (Durham University)
Becky popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 144 since 1949.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #3,992 | 36 |
| 2020 | #3,626 | 41 |
| 2010 | #3,525 | 45 |
| 2000 | #2,037 | 81 |
| 1990 | #859 | 229 |
| 1980 | #254 | 1,011 |
| 1970 | #161 | 2,071 |
| 1960 | #111 | 4,325 |
| 1950 | #216 | 1,236 |
| 1940 | #348 | 346 |
| 1930 | #1,074 | 47 |
| 1920 | #1,713 | 24 |
| 1910 | #1,953 | 7 |
| 1900 | #1,747 | 6 |
| 1890 | #1,352 | 5 |
| 1880 | #632 | 8 |
How popular is Becky, counting every spelling?
Becky has no other common spelling that sounds the same.
How many kids will share the name Becky?
36 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Becky (0.01 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Becky born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 233 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Becky.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Becky?
About 72,400 people born in the US named Becky are alive today, with a median age of 63; half are between 54 and 68. That makes Becky a name most people associate with older generations.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Becky by state
How common Becky was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. In 46 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Becky: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Becky, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Becky · Sibling names for Becky
Becky is also a nickname for Rebecca.
Questions about the name Becky
What does Becky mean?
Becky means “pet form of Rebecca” (English, Hebrew origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Becky?
Becky was the 3992nd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 36 babies. Its best year was 1959, when it ranked 102nd with 4,755 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 1,024 places. More babies were named Becky in the 1960s than in any other decade.
Is Becky a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Becky in the US.
Where is Becky most popular?
In 2021–2025, Becky was most common in Tennessee (0.03 per 1,000 girls), followed by Pennsylvania and California.