Bethany

Where Bethany comes from

From Ancient Greek Βηθανία (Bēthanía), from Aramaic בית עניא (beth anya, “house of wretchedness”). This etymology is highly disputed; see Bethany.
— Wiktionary's entry for Bethany
  • Aramaic
  • 3 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1915
    First appearance
    #3,795 among girls, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1981
    Bethany Joy Lenz born
    American actress
  3. 1987
    Peak, #87
    3,294 babies named Bethany — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1990
    Bethany Hamilton born
    American surfer
  5. 2003
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #204.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Aramaic, transferred use of the biblical place name.
Namesakes
  • Bethany Hamilton · American surfer, born 1990
  • Bethany Joy Lenz · American actress, born 1981
  • Bethany England · English footballer, born 1994
  • Bethany Shriever · English bicycle motocross rider, born 1999
  • Bethany Mota · American vlogger, born 1995

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.