Bethan

femaleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Bethan: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Bethan: Recorded every year since 1995, its highest recorded position is #72, and it stood at #2,115 in 2024.

3registrars recorded it
47times a registrar ranked it
30years from first to last
#72highest recorded position
9groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#72
1997	#73
1998	#80
1999	#84
2000	#88
2001	#102
2002	#112
2003	#127
2004	#141
2005	#140
2006	#148
2007	#183
2008	#204
2009	#219
2010	#259
2011	#278
2012	#281
2013	#329
2014	#344
2015	#402
2016	#483
2017	#593
2018	#614
2019	#770
2020	#969
2021	#1195
2022	#1452
2023	#1640
2024	#2115

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in England and Wales in every year from 1996 to 2024.

In 2017: #593 among girls in England and Wales, #873 among girls in Republic of Ireland.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1995–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1995
First recorded at #516 among girls in Republic of Ireland in 1995 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Highest recorded1996–2024
Highest recorded position: #72 among girls in England and Wales, in 1996 (recorded 1996–2024).
England and Wales · Girls
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #2115 among girls in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Girls

Bethan appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, with 29 ranked years and 7,968 births registered; the earliest is Republic of Ireland · Girls, from 1995.

Bethan across 3 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Bethan's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Girls	#72 (1996)	#72 (1996)	#2115 (2024)	29 of 29	7,968 (1996–2024)	825 (1996)
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#516 (1995)	#512 (2002)	#873 (2017)	8 of 23	31 (1995–2017)	6 (2011)
Northern Ireland · Girls	#221 (1997)	#167 (1999)	#451 (2012)	10 of 16	54 (1997–2012)	10 (1999)

Bethan by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Bethan in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	2,885	4 of 10	721
2000sbusiest	3,760	10 of 10	376
2010s	1,208	10 of 10	121
2020s	115	5 of 10	23

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2000s were its busiest decade, averaging 376 births a year.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Bethan appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1995 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #72 in England and Wales in 1996.

Bethan's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	female	#2115	13	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#1640	18	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#1452	21	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#1195	28	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#969	35	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#770	49	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#614	67	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#593	71	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#483	90	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#402	113	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#344	133	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#329	140	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#281	175	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#278	176	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#259	194	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#219	228	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#204	252	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#183	295	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#148	353	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#140	382	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#141	367	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#127	401	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#112	408	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#102	482	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#88	592	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#84	637	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#80	673	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#73	750	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#72	825	High	Verified
2012	Northern Ireland	female	#451	3	High	Verified
2011	Northern Ireland	female	#444	3	High	Verified
2008	Northern Ireland	female	#311	5	High	Verified
2006	Northern Ireland	female	#332	4	High	Verified
2005	Northern Ireland	female	#377	3	High	Verified
2003	Northern Ireland	female	#248	5	High	Verified
2000	Northern Ireland	female	#174	9	High	Verified
1999	Northern Ireland	female	#167	10	High	Verified
1998	Northern Ireland	female	#261	5	High	Verified
1997	Northern Ireland	female	#221	7	High	Verified
2017	Republic of Ireland	female	#873	3	High	Verified
2013	Republic of Ireland	female	#747	4	High	Verified
2011	Republic of Ireland	female	#612	6	High	Verified
2009	Republic of Ireland	female	#893	3	High	Verified
2007	Republic of Ireland	female	#842	3	High	Verified
2006	Republic of Ireland	female	#550	5	High	Verified
2002	Republic of Ireland	female	#512	4	High	Verified
1995	Republic of Ireland	female	#516	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 3 registrars between 1995 and 2024, ranked in 30 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #72, first reached in 1996.

It held a top-100 place in 5 years, 5 of them consecutive.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 825 births, registered in England and Wales in 1996.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 2 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Bessie · #1094, 27y
Beth · #40, 34y
Bethany · #11, 33y
Bethel · #1371, 24y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 3 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Musa · #73, 30y
Filippa · #67, 27y
Kiri · #77, 30y
Abi · #78, 30y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Darcey · #72, 30y
Isaiah · #72, 30y
Jett · #72, 27y
Romi · #72, 28y

Bethan was ranked #72 in England and Wales · Girls in 1996. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Bethan and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Bethan without appearing here.

Bethan moved ahead of

Geraldine Compare
In 2010 they stood at #893 and #742 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2011 that had become #612 and #937.
Therese Compare
In 2010 they stood at #893 and #641 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2011 that had become #612 and #798.
Kirsten Compare
In 2012 they stood at #612 and #550 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2013 that had become #747 and #894.
Lorraine Compare
In 2012 they stood at #893 and #893 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2013 that had become #747 and #894.

Moved ahead of Bethan

Elaine Compare
In 2023 they stood at #1640 and #1705 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2024 that had become #2115 and #1160.
Shania Compare
In 2023 they stood at #1640 and #2063 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2024 that had become #2115 and #1353.
Paula Compare
In 2023 they stood at #1640 and #2504 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2024 that had become #2115 and #1491.
Jacqueline Compare
In 2023 they stood at #1640 and #1863 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2024 that had become #2115 and #1541.

Moved the opposite way to Bethan

Ada Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Bethan went from #72 to #2115 while Ada went from #2683 to #40.
Alma Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Bethan went from #72 to #2115 while Alma went from #2096 to #234.
Alyssa Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Bethan went from #72 to #2115 while Alyssa went from #783 to #285.
Amalie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Bethan went from #72 to #2115 while Amalie went from #2096 to #1128.

Moved the same way as Bethan

Abigail Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Bethan went from #72 to #2115 and Abigail from #21 to #154.
Aimee Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Bethan went from #72 to #2115 and Aimee from #70 to #1603.
Aisling Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Bethan went from #72 to #2115 and Aisling from #440 to #2000.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Bethan went from #72 to #2115 and Alex from #161 to #2253.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1995 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #72 in England and Wales in 1996. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Bethan

Bethan at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Bethan across 3 official records

Bethan by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Bethan appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Bethan

Bethan and the names beside it

Bethan moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Bethan

Moved the opposite way to Bethan

Moved the same way as Bethan

Bethan at a glance

Bethan across 3 official records

Bethan by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Bethan appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Bethan

Bethan and the names beside it

Bethan moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Bethan

Moved the opposite way to Bethan

Moved the same way as Bethan