Bethany

BETH-ah-nee

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The name Bethany means “house of figs, house of affliction.” It comes from the Hebrew language tradition.

Bethany is the name of a biblical village near Jerusalem, from the Hebrew 'beit te'ena' (house of figs) or 'beit ani' (house of affliction). It was the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, and where Jesus often stayed. The name was hugely popular in the 1980s-90s and retains a warm, inviting, faith-inflected sweetness.

Sources give two different meanings for Bethany's Greek/Hebrew root: Wiktionary glosses it as house of wretchedness, while flagging that this etymology is highly disputed; Wikipedia gives house of figs, from a name probably of Aramaic or Hebrew origin. Neither source endorses one over the other, so both are given here without picking a winner.

Wikipedia confirms Bethany as a biblical place name for a town near Jerusalem at the foot of the Mount of Olives, where Lazarus lived with his sisters Mary and Martha, and where Jesus stayed during Holy Week before his crucifixion; nothing here addresses the modern given name's 1980s-90s popularity mentioned elsewhere.

• Bethany Hamilton (American surfer who returned to competition after a shark attack)
• Bethany Joy Lenz (American actress, One Tree Hill)

Sibling names that share Bethany's rhythm and register without echoing it too closely.