Wednesday, April 27, 2011

"B" as in Betty...




Welcome to Alphabe Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny over at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent."  For a list of this week's participants and information on how you can join in the fun head over to Ms. Jenny's blog.

This week we are studying the letter "B" as in BETTY.

BETTY is an old fashion name.  It's also my name.  According to one site it's of Dutch, English and Hebrew origin and means God's Promise. 

My name is BETTY...not Elizabeth.  All through school I had to argue with teachers who insisted my name had to be Elizabeth.  It wasn't.  My parents had a deal...Mom would name any girls and Dad would name any boys.  My mother decided to name me BETTY Jean and she insisted everyone call me BETTY Jean.  Sounds like I was born in the deep south, but I was actually born in Hackensack, NJ.

For the first ten years of my life I was called BETTY Jean.  Since then I've spent the last 55 years correcting anyone who calls me BETTY Jean.  It's just plain BETTY.  Come on...BETTY is bad enough without adding the Jean.  I've never liked my name.

According to the Social Security website between 1910 and 1996 the name BETTY was the second most popular girl's name from 1928 until 1934.  We never made it to number one and our numbers have been falling ever since.  I was born in 1945 and BETTY was number 11 that year.  The most recent year they show on their website is 1996 and BETTY had dropped to 919.  I was surprised it was even that high.  If you'd like to see how popular your name is check out the Social Security website.  You can search by a particular year or you can search over a period of years to see how the popularity of your name has changed over the years.  It's kind of fun, so give it a try.


Here are some BETTYs...

BETTY BOOP...animated cartoon character




BETTY Rubble...from the Flinstones




BETTY Cooper...from BETTY and Veronica comic book fame




BETTY CROCKER...who helped me learn to bake and cook




BETTY Grable...the actress and WW II pin up girl




BETTY Ford...the widow of President Gerald Ford




BETTY White...one of my all time favorites





Who can forget Betty White's Super Bowl commercial...



My mother's nickname was BETTY.  She was actually named Carolyn Elizabeth Morris, but the nickname BETTY does not come from Elizabeth.  When she was small her grandmother called her something in German that sounded like BEPSIE and from that people started calling her BETTY.  I love this old picture of her with her doll.  This was probably taken in 1921 or 22.




I don't love this picture.   Actually, this is a hundred times better than my latest driver's license picture, so that tells you something right there.  Don't you just love the hairdo?  I know I put this up on my blog once before, but it's so awful it's worth repeating.  (Mom, why did you let me go out in public that day?)  Yes, that's BETTY Jean in 1954.



Some of you might remember when I recently had a little extra time on my hands and googled my name.  I wrote about it in this post.

Now head on over to Ms. Jenny's blog for this week's addition of Alphabe Thursday.  Don't worry about me if I'm not around on Friday.  I have a prior engagement and I'll be very busy.



Now I'm off to polish my tiara, bake crumpets, and find a good alarm clock.  Cheerio...
PS...Last week I had trouble and couldn't post pictures with blogger for Alphabe Thursday.  I discovered that if I sign out and then sign back in again the problem clears up.  Wish I had thought of that last week.  I'm passing this information along in case anyone else is having trouble too.

19 comments:

  1. Love your post ... and I'm getting ready for the big wedding day, too! My favorite Betty ... next to Betty White ... is Betty Ruble! Thanks for sharing all these great pictures.

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  2. During my lifetime, my name has steadily moved from rank 117 to rank 389 :)

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  3. Hahahaha! Betty, we adore you!!!!

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  4. My name didn't make the top 1000 and hasn't for eleven years.

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  5. I like Betty. it certainly is better than most names these days.

    have a sweet day.

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  6. My oldest sis is named "Bertha" which she did not like, and has always been known as "Betty" to us. Enjoyed your "Betty" pictures!

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  7. Well Ms Betty - you seem to have a popular name... I mean 3 cartoon characters named Betty! Most people don't even have 1!
    Cute B Post :)
    Gina
    http://ginakay.typepad.com

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  8. Betty Grable was my favorite. I remember having Betty Grable paper dolls and coloring book..... goodness.... so long ago.

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  9. Oh wow, I love how your name means "God's promise." How beautiful!

    Happy Alphabet Thursday to you!

    XO
    Cindy

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  10. Betty, you are an absolute riot. This is such a funny post. Dear Betty White; I enjoyed her Password appearances so much.

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  11. OH Bertty have fun at the wedding! It's my birthday tomorrow so we're heading off to Cornwall for a long weekend but i shall be watching the news in the evening.
    Love your B post and look at you up there with the best of them!

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  12. You certainly are in good company!

    Betty Rubble rocks...

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  13. Betty sounds like a grand name to me.

    My children didn't like their name I gave them either :-)

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  14. You are among very memorable ladies also named Betty. A fun post - hope you enjoyed the wedding. I celebrated this morning with a cherry almond scone for breakfast and watched the "reruns."
    Thanks for dropping be earlier and commenting...it is greatly appreciated.

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  15. Betty has always been one of my favorite names...along with Rose and Molly.

    It was interesting to read the background on this name and it's popularity. I wonder what your Dad would have named you if he had gotten to chose the girls names?

    Thanks for a fun stop this week BETTY!

    You are a joy!

    A+

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  16. My grandmother went by Betty. Her actual name was Rebecca, but she hated that name and went by Betty instead!

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  17. I have an Aunt Betty - actually she is my great Aunt I think...well she is my grandmothers sister...and she is in her 80's. I love your name and I especially love your old photos!!!

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  18. I love all the pictures in you B list. sandie

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