How Many People Are Named Betty Smith?

There are approximately 2,086 people named Betty Smith living in the United States today. That makes this name combination common, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 164,312 Americans.

This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Betty with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Smith. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census background data where it is available.

Estimated People with This Name

2,086

1 in 164,312 Americans

Combination Rarity

Common

Very Rare Very Common

Betty: Popularity Over Time

Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Betty. The peak year was 1930 with 38,394 births. The average person named Betty today is 75 years old.

Male
Female
0 8K 15K 23K 31K 38K 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Ancestry of the First Name Betty

In the 2020 Census, the first name Betty was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (77.34%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (14.29%) and Hispanic (3.81%).

These percentages describe the people who had the first name Betty in the 2020 Census. They do not tell you the deeper origin or meaning of the name itself.

Read this as a snapshot of who already had the name in 2020, not as a trend line. The SSA chart above is still the better way to see how Betty rose or fell over time.

White
77.34%
Black
14.29%
Hispanic
3.81%
Asian/Pacific Islander
1.89%
American Indian/Alaska Native
0.77%
Two or More Races
1.91%

Ancestry of the Smith Surname

The surname Smith was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White in the 2020 Census.

This is a self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people who had the surname Smith in the published Census surname tables. It gives useful context around who was recorded with the name, but it does not tell the full family history of every Boone line.

White
67.99%
Black
22.62%
Hispanic
3.50%
Asian/Pacific Islander
0.68%
American Indian/Alaska Native
0.83%
Two or More Races
4.37%

How we calculated this

The first name "Betty" has an estimated frequency of 0.0768% among living Americans, based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024 adjusted for mortality using CDC 2023 life tables.

The surname "Smith" appears at a rate of 792.79 per 100,000 people in the 2020 U.S. Census.

We do not use the Census first-name snapshot for the main estimate because it is only published once every 10 years. The latest public first-name Census file is from 2020, which is already 6 years old. SSA birth records plus CDC survival data give a better current estimate of how many people with the first name Betty are likely to be alive now.

Multiplying these frequencies against the U.S. population of ~343 million gives 2,086 estimated people. This assumes first names and last names are statistically independent. Full methodology.

Betty Smith: Questions and Answers

How many people are named Betty Smith?

We estimate approximately 2,086 people named Betty Smith are alive in the United States today. The first name Betty is shared by 263,134 Americans, and the surname Smith is shared by 2,717,332.

How rare is the name Betty Smith?

This name combination is classified as Common, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 164,312 Americans. The first name Betty is common and the surname Smith is very common.

Is Betty a male or female name?

Betty is predominantly female, with 0.4% of bearers being male and 99.6% female. It peaked in popularity in 1930 and the average bearer today is 75 years old.

What does the Census say about the first name Betty?

In the 2020 Census, the first name Betty was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (77.34%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (14.29%) and Hispanic (3.81%). These percentages describe the people who had the name in the 2020 Census, not the deeper origin of the name itself.

Where does this data come from?

First name data comes from the Social Security Administration (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables. When available, first-name Census background data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau first-name tables. Surname data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau. Full methodology.

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