Bethany
Bethany was the 752nd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 362 babies. Its best year was 1987, when it ranked 87th with 3,294 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 337 places. More babies were named Bethany in the 1980s than in any other decade.
Meaning biblical village (meaning disputed) · Aramaic, Greek
Say it BETH-uh-nee /ˈbɛθəni/
- Rank in 2025
- #752 girls, down 150 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 362girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19873,294 babies
- Total since 1880
- 101,086babies recorded
What does the name Bethany mean?
Bethany is the village near Jerusalem where Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha lived (John 11:1). As a girls' name it is a transfer of the place name, as Wiktionary notes. Wiktionary gives Aramaic beth anya, "house of wretchedness," as one explanation, but calls it highly disputed. The name has been used in the US since the 1910s and was most common in the 1980s.
Βηθανία (Koine Greek, “Bethany”)בית (Aramaic, “house (first element)”)
How sure is this? Disputed. Wiktionary calls the 'house of the poor/affliction' etymology highly disputed.
Related names: Beth, Bethan, Bethanie.
See also: Aramaic names.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Bethany' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- John 11:1 (New Testament), King James Version, via Bible Gateway, Bible Gateway (KJV, public domain)
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (yob*.txt), team3 computation of first year recorded, US Social Security Administration (public domain)
Nicknames for Bethany
The usual nicknames for Bethany are Beth. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Bethany in the last five years, 11 were named Beth, against 6 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beth · also for Elizabeth, Lizbeth | Traditional | #3,405 | 221 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Bethanys go by each one.
Bethany popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 184 since 1970.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #752 | 362 |
| 2020 | #602 | 483 |
| 2010 | #368 | 865 |
| 2000 | #151 | 2,191 |
| 1990 | #107 | 3,238 |
| 1980 | #124 | 2,497 |
| 1970 | #356 | 703 |
| 1960 | #694 | 215 |
| 1950 | #804 | 117 |
| 1940 | #1,689 | 22 |
| 1930 | #3,087 | 9 |
| 1920 | #2,918 | 11 |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Bethany, counting every spelling?
Bethany is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #747 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #752 for Bethany on its own. Together these spellings went to 370 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bethany | 362 | #752 | 2,050 |
| Bethanie | 8 | #11,102 | 46 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Bethany?
362 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Bethany (0.10 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Bethany 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 23 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Bethany.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Bethany?
About 97,200 people born in the US named Bethany are alive today, with a median age of 35; half are between 26 and 43. That makes Bethany mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties.
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.
Bethany by state
How common Bethany was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Pennsylvania (2.2×), Indiana (2.1×), Kentucky (1.9×), Ohio (1.8×), Utah (1.8×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Louisiana, Connecticut, New Jersey.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Bethany: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Bethany, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Bethany · Sibling names for Bethany
Questions about the name Bethany
What does Bethany mean?
Bethany is usually explained as “biblical village (meaning disputed)”, but this is disputed. Certainty: disputed.
How popular is the name Bethany?
Bethany was the 752nd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 362 babies. Its best year was 1987, when it ranked 87th with 3,294 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 337 places. More babies were named Bethany in the 1980s than in any other decade.
Is Bethany a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Bethany in the US.
Where is Bethany most popular?
In 2021–2025, Bethany was most common in Pennsylvania (0.57 per 1,000 girls), followed by Indiana and Kentucky.