Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth.[1] In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beatrice. In the 17th and 18th centuries, it was more often a diminutive of Bethia.[2]
Notable people
Athletes
- Betty Cuthbert (1938–2017), Australian sprinter and Olympic champion
- Betty Jameson (1919–2009), American Hall-of-Fame golfer and one of the founders of the LPGA
- Betty McKilligan (born 1949), Canadian pairs figure skater
- Betty Nuthall (1911–1983), English tennis player
- Betty Pariso (born 1956), American bodybuilder
- Betty Stöve (born 1945), Dutch tennis player
- Betty Ann Grubb Stuart (born 1950), American tennis player
- Betty Uber (1906–1983), English badminton and tennis player
Journalists and media personalities
- Betty Elizalde (1940–2018), Argentine journalist and broadcaster
- Betty Kennedy (1926–2017), Canadian broadcaster, journalist and author
- Betty Nguyen (born 1974), American news anchor
- Betty Willingale (1927-2021), British television producer and script editor
Performing artists and fashion models
- Betty Alberge (1922–1991), British actress
- Betty Arvaniti (born 1939), Greek actress
- Betty Boije (1822–1854), Finnish-Swedish contralto and composer
- Betty Boo (born 1970), stage name of English singer and songwriter Alison Moira Clarkson
- Betty Bronson (1906–1971), American actress
- Betty Buckley (born 1947), American actress
- Betty Burbridge (1895–1987), American actress
- Betty Carter (Lillie Mae Jones) (1929–1998), American jazz singer
- Betty Cody (1921–2014), Canadian-born American country music singer
- Bette Davis (1908–1989) American actress
- Bettie de Jong (born 1933), Dutch rehearsal director and dancer
- Betty Deland (1831–1882), Swedish actress
- Betty Driver (1920–2011), British actress and singer
- Betty Everett (1939–2001), American soul singer
- Betty Faria (born 1941), Brazilian actress
- Betty G, a stage name of an Ethiopian singer and songwriter Bruktawit Getahun
- Betty Garrett (1919–2011), American actress, comedian, singer and dancer
- Betty Grable (1916–1973), American actress, singer, dancer and pin-up girl
- Betty Harlafti, Greek mezzo-soprano and singer
- Betty Harris (born 1939), American soul singer
- Betty Hutton (1921–2007), American actress and singer
- Betty Kelly (born 1944), American singer, member of Martha and the Vandellas
- Betty Knox (Alice Elizabeth Peden) (1906–1963), part of Wilson, Keppel and Betty, a British music hall and vaudeville act
- Betty Kuuskemaa (1879–1966), Estonian actress
- Betty Moschona (1927–2006), Greek actress
- Bettie Page (1923–2008), American pin-up and fetish model
- Betty Stockfeld (1905–1966), Australian actress
- Betty White (1922–2021), American actress, best known for Life with Elizabeth, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls
- Betty Who (born 1991), Australian-American singer and musician
- Betty Wright (1953–2020), American soul and R&B singer and songwriter
- Betty (singer) (born 2003), Armenian child singer
Politicians and activists
- Betty Apiafi (born 1962), Nigerian MP and educator
- Betty de Boer (born 1971), Dutch politician
- Betty Boothroyd (1929–2023), British MP and former Speaker of the House of Commons
- Betty Croquer, Venezuelan politician
- Betty Friedan (1921–2006), American feminist and author of The Feminine Mystique
- Betty Hall (1921–2018), American politician
- Bettie Hewes (1924–2001), Canadian politician
- Betty Komp (born 1949), American politician
- Betty Ray McCain (1931–2022), American politician
- Betty McCollum (born 1954), American politician
- Betty Millard (1911–2010), American writer, artist, political activist, philanthropist, feminist
- Betty Shabazz (1934–1997), American educator and civil rights advocate, wife of Malcolm X
- Betty Williams (Nobel laureate) (1943–2020), North Irish peace activist
- Betty Williams (politician) (born 1944), Welsh politician and MP
Scientists and technologists
- Betty Lou Bailey (1929–2007), American mechanical engineer
- Betty Johnson (physicist), American physicist
- Betty Lindsay (1897–1953), Scottish civil engineer
Visual artists
- Bettie Cilliers-Barnard (1914–2010), South African abstract artist
- Betty Curnow (1911–2005), New Zealand painter and printmaker
- Betty Miller (1910–1965), Irish author
- Betty G. Miller (1934–2012), also known as Bettigee, American artist known as the "Mother of De'VIA"
- Betty Muffler (born 1944), Aboriginal Australian artist and healer
- Betty Parsons (1900–1982), American artist, art dealer, and collector
People in other fields
- Madeleine Passot "Betty" (1914–2009), French Resistance agent
- Acid Betty (born 1977), American drag queen
- Betty Ang, Filipina businesswoman
- Betty Bentley Beaumont (1828–1892), British author, merchant
- Betty Debenham, motorcyclist and author
- Betty Ford (1918–2011), First Lady of the United States, wife of Gerald Ford
- Betty Gleim (1781-1827), German teacher, school founder and author
- Betty Jackson (born 1949), British fashion designer
- Betty Joseph (1917–2013), British psychoanalyst
- Betty Klimenko (born 1959), Australian businessperson and motorsport team owner
- Betty Linderoth (1822–1900), Swedish clockmaker
- Betty MacDonald (1908–1958), American author
- Betty Miller (1926–2018), first female pilot to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean
- Betty Mitchell (1896–1976), Canadian theatre director and educator
- Betty Siegel (1931–2020), American author, and president of Kennesaw State University
- Betty (slave) (c. 1738 – 1795), one of Martha Washington's slaves
- Bettie, a black cook at the Battle of the Alamo - see List of Texian survivors of the Battle of the Alamo
- Lady Betty (Lady Elizabeth Hastings) (1682–1739), philanthropist
- Lady Betty (Elizabeth Sugrue) (c. 1740/1750–1807), Irish executioner
Fictional characters
- Betty, a character in the 1991 American comedy movie What About Bob?
- Betty (Naked Brothers Band), in the TV series The Naked Brothers Band.
- Betty, the title character of the comic strip Betty (1920–1943) by Charles A. Voight
- Betty, the title character of Yo soy Betty, la fea, a Colombian soap opera, basis for the US TV series Ugly Betty
- Betty, the antagonist of the comedy film Kung Pow! Enter the Fist (2002)
- Betty, an octopus from the animated preschool series Hey Duggee
- Atomic Betty or 'Betty Barrett', Cartoon Network-Teletoon's first child superhero
- Boxcar Betty (Boxcar Bertha), a fictional hobo and Industrial Workers of the World organizer
- Brickhouse Betty, the title character from the animated cartoon series featured on Playboy TV and the Internet
- Betty Blue, the main character of the film Betty Blue
- Betty Boop, a Paramount Pictures cartoon character
- Betty Brant, a Marvel Comics supporting character
- Betty Burke, a character from Power Rangers Beast Morphers
- Betty Childs-Skolnic, a character in the Revenge of the Nerds film series
- Betty Cooper, a comic book character published by Archie Comics
- Betty Draper, a character in the TV series Mad Men.
- Betty Eagleton, a character in the British soap opera Emmerdale
- Betty Finn, a character in the 1988 film Heathers
- Betty Gordon, the protagonist of a series of children's novels
- Betty Grof, a character who is Simon Petrikov's girlfriend in the TV series Adventure Time
- Betty Kane, now known as Bette Kane
- Betty Lou, a muppet character on Sesame Street
- Betty Perry, a character in the 1925 American silent comedy Introduce Me
- Betty Rizzo, a character in the film Grease (1978), played by Stockard Channing
- Betty Ross, Bruce Banner's love interest in the Hulk comics
- Betty Rubble, a Flintstones character
- Betty Slug, the lead character in the Canadian comic strip Betty
- Betty Smith, a character in the TV series Littlest Pet Shop
- Betty Spencer, the wife of Frank Spencer in the British sitcom Some Mothers do 'ave 'em
- Betty Suarez, the title character and heroine of the TV series Ugly Betty
- Betty Sutton, a character in the 1995 American romantic drama movie A Walk in the Clouds
- Betty Lou Who, a character in the 2000 American Christmas fantasy comedy movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- Betty Williams (Coronation Street), in the British soap opera Coronation Street
Other
See also
- Lady Betty
- Bette (given name)
- Betti (given name)
- Bettye, given name
- Bety, nickname
- Betty (surname)
- Betty (novel), by Tiffany McDaniel
- Mitsubishi G4M, Japanese WWII naval bomber, codenamed "Betty"
References
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