COMPILED FROM THE FEDERAL REGISTERS, 1880 TO THE PRESENT
THE ENDANGERED NAMES LIST
American first names, tracked to the federal reporting line.

FROM THE REGISTER — LONG MISSING

Bettye
A female given name · United States

BELOW THE FEDERAL REPORTING LINE SINCE 1999 — 27 YEARS

Bettye (F): reported births per year02004006008001,000188019001920194019601980200020202025FEDERAL REPORTING LINE (5)PEAK 763 — 1933
Reported births per year, 1880–2025. The y-axis starts at zero. Years below the reporting line appear as gaps, not zeros.

Betty with a flourish. Reported from 1883 to 1998, with a peak of 763 in 1933 and 22,920 births recorded in all. Nothing since 1998 — 27 years below the line, though a name last seen this recently has had less time to come back than the older vanished stock.

REGISTER EXTRACT
First reported1883
Last reported1998
Peak1933 — 763 births
Total recorded, 1883–202522,920
Years above the line102 of a possible 143
Longest absence27 years (1999–2025, ongoing)

Nearby in the register

Dick

Long Missing · 1880–2005 · peak 1934

Gaylord

Long Missing · 1882–1998 · peak 1931

Shirley

Long Missing · 1880–1993 · peak 1935

Leatrice

Long Missing · 1908–2002 · peak 1927

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national names file (1880–2025). Names below 5 occurrences in a year are not reported.

Somewhere, a grandmother is unsurprised.

A collection of THE MUSEUM OF HOPEFUL MACHINES