Bethany

← Back to The High and Late Middle Ages

Girl · Aramaic, through Greek

Bethany

Say it: BETH-uh-nee

Try it with your surname

Meaning

Uncertain. The village name is often explained as 'house of figs' or 'house of affliction'; neither is settled.

Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.

A place name in the Gospels, used as a given name chiefly in the English-speaking world from the mid 20th century.

Its wave through time

Fading since the 1980s

In the United States

00.511.5218801900192019401960198020002020Peak 1987per 1,000 babies of that sex
  • 99,013 babies given this name since 1915
  • At its height in 1987, about 1 in 527 girls
  • 478 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

EnglishAmerican

The family of the name

Other spellings: Bethanie

FrenchBéthanie
SpanishBetania
PortugueseBetânia

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.