Bedelia

Girls' name

Diminutive of Bridget

Bedelia has been given to 81 babies in the U.S. since 1918. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1947, with 24 recorded.

Babies named Bedelia, 1968

1 in 483,000

Bedelia over time, 1880–2025

Girls

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Bedelia: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Bridget

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Bedelia means

Bedelia is a diminutive of Bridget.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Bedelia is used in Irish.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Bedelia → Bridget. The family’s meaning is “the exalted one”, recorded in the naming reference for Bridget.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Bridget.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 81 girls were recorded with the name Bedelia between 1918 and 1968. Its highest annual count was 24 in 1947; its best national rank was #1,997 in 1947.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

U.S. Social Security Administration: national name data and limitations

How common is Bedelia?

Bedelia had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1968, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1968: 1 in 483,000; 7 of 3,378,301 births
Among girls only: 1 in 234,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 1968: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 334,524 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Bedelia sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 1968 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 334,524 children born in 1968 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Bedelia. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Bedelias were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Bedelia was born before 1948 — so the typical Bedelia is around 77 today.

Median birth year: 1948; About 77 years old
Biggest decade: 1940s; 51.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 92.6%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 33; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1940s — 51.9% of all recorded uses (42).

Is Bedelia rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1947 (24)
Years since peak: 78; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 26.2% average annual change
Best rank ever: #1,997; 1947

Spellings of Bedelia

Bedelia is not the most common spelling — Cecelia is, with 47.4% against Bedelia's 0.06%.

Cecelia47.4%60,519
Delia29.2%37,318
Emelia11.0%14,028
Adelia4.5%5,717
Odelia2.2%2,860
Belia1.6%2,058
Evelia1.2%1,594
Ardelia1.1%1,370

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Bedelia is used

Across 1910–2025, Bedelia was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 3,202,555 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1California1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Bedelia has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Bedelia by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #1,997; 1947
Peak year: 1947; 24 that year
First recorded: 1918
Last recorded: 1968
All-time count: 81
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Bedelia

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Coralia Vasilia Azaelia Attalia Emmilia Anahlia Otillia Noellia Araylia Nadalia Idahlia Zahlia Anatalia Caelia Marlia Aurellia Aemilia Kamillia Vitalia Lucilia Lucelia Adahlia Lucillia Kealia

Sibling names for Bedelia

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Janey Ernestina Cheryle Jonnie Caryl Aleta Sherrill Lonnie

For a brother

Fredric Lupe Felton Connie Gale Frederic Ronny Denny

Explore around Bedelia

Top names of 1947, Bedelia's peak year The 1940s in full Other names that peaked in 1947 Girls' names starting with B