How Many People Are Named Betsy?
An estimated 32,374 people in the United States have the first name Betsy. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 56 years old, and Betsy peaked in popularity in 1959 with 1,390 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Betsy as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Betsy paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Betsy has fallen dramatically from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are less than 5% of what they were at the name's height.
Estimated Living Americans
32,374
About 1 in 10,587 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
100.0% confidence
Average Age
56
years old
Peak Year
1959
1,390 births
Total Registered
48,891
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Betsy
Betsy is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 48,891 total births registered, 100.0% were female.
Betsy as a male name
Ranked #4,122 in 1961
5 male births in 1961
Peak: 1942 (5 births)
Betsy as a female name
Ranked #2,404 in 2024
75 female births in 2024
Peak: 1959 (1,390 births)
Betsy: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Betsy span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1950s, when 10,561 babies were registered. Betsy has declined significantly from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Betsy by Decade
How has Betsy tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 166 | 0 | 166 | |
| 1890s | 173 | 0 | 173 | |
| 1900s | 189 | 0 | 189 | |
| 1910s | 841 | 0 | 841 | |
| 1920s | 2,551 | 0 | 2,551 | |
| 1930s | 3,929 | 0 | 3,929 | |
| 1940s | 6,985 | 5 | 6,980 | |
| 1950s | 10,561 | 0 | 10,561 | |
| 1960s | 8,563 | 5 | 8,558 | |
| 1970s | 5,461 | 0 | 5,461 | |
| 1980s | 4,058 | 0 | 4,058 | |
| 1990s | 2,014 | 0 | 2,014 | |
| 2000s | 1,805 | 0 | 1,805 | |
| 2010s | 1,203 | 0 | 1,203 | |
| 2020s | 392 | 0 | 392 | |
Betsy by State
Birth registrations for Betsy span all 50 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in New York, Pennsylvania, California. The lowest are in Wyoming, North Dakota, Nevada. On average, about 867 Betsys were registered per state.
Betsy + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Betsy as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Betsy
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
Betsy: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Betsy?
We estimate approximately 32,374 people named Betsy are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 10,587 Americans share this first name.
Is Betsy a common name?
Betsy is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.9% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 48,891 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Betsy most popular?
Betsy reached peak popularity in 1959, when 1,390 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Betsy is approximately 56 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Betsy a female name?
Betsy is predominantly female. 100.0% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Betsy Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Betsy Smith, Betsy Johnson, Betsy Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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