Bethany is the name of a village near Jerusalem where, in the Gospels, Jesus stayed with Mary, Martha and Lazarus; the Aramaic place name is usually explained as "house of figs", although "house of affliction" has also been suggested. English-speaking parents adopted it as a girls' name in the 20th century, and it was most popular in America in the 1980s and 1990s. Bethany ranked number 151 in 2000 and has slipped steadily since, to number 752 in 2025.