Name of the Week

A pretty and uncommon biblical Beth
that is not an Elizabeth but is equally appealing.

 

Origin:

Bethia is a variant of the Hebrew Bithyah, a name thought to derive from bath "daughter, worshipper, woman" and Yah "God." The Hebrew Bithyah became Βετθία in the Greek Septuagint and Bethia in Vulgate Latin, however the form Bithiah was used in the King James Bible and other later authorised versions.  Bithiah is mentioned only once in the Bible: "These are the sons of Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh" (1 Chronicles 4:18), which has caused much debate as to the origins of the name. What is clear is that Bithiah must have been a woman of position to have been given notable mention. In Jewish tradition, Bithiah is identified as the same Egytian princess who adopted Moses, the name of whom is never mentioned in the Old Testament. The explanation for her name Bithiah "daughter of Yah" is explained in the Midrash, whereupon God says to her: "Moses was not your son, yet you called him your son; you are not My daughter, but I call you My daughter" (Lev. Rabbah 1:3). Other scholars, less convinced that Bithiah was the same Egyptian princess who adopted Moses, have put forward the idea that Bithiah was given as a name to one of several Egyptians who converted to Judaism and settled in Israel, so has more a symbolic meaning of "worshipper of Yah."  Confusingly, the beginning of 1 Chronicles 4:18 starts: "And his wife Jehudijah bore Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. And these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, who Mered took." Jehudijah is often given to mean "the Jewess" or "Judean," though it is not clear whether this passage refers to Bithiah herself as a "Judean woman", or to two separate wives of Mered, one of them being Bithiah. Some maintain that, if they are the same woman, Bithiah may not have been Egyptian at all; the 'Pharoah' mentioned could, in fact, be an Isrealite name.* But let's suppose that Bithiah was actually an Egyptian pharoah's daughter. A prevalent theory is that Bithiah was actually Tia (Tiya, Tuya), a daughter of Seti I, or another Tia who was Ramesses II's daughter. Bithiah, then, could be Bath (Melech) Tia "King's daughter, Tia"* or perhaps "daughter of Tia." Another theory assumes Bithiah is an alternate fom of Bintanath, a daughter/wife of Ramesses II. Her name meant "daughter of (the goddess) Anath."*

Usage:

Bethia has been in use in Britain since the 16th century, and this was by far the more common form of the name. In earlier records it was also less commonly recorded as Bithiah, Bethiah, Bethyah, Bethea and Bathia, but by the 17th century, Bethia was the prevalent spelling. Its use was consistent, though it was never especially common, akin to other Old Testament names such as Dinah, Tabitha, Vashti and Deborah. There are several possible reason for the dominance in this spelling. Firstly, Bethia was used from the 17th century to render the Scottish name Beathag — a diminutive of Scots Gaelic beath "life" — into English. Secondly, the name was seemingly conflated with Elizabeth and all its variant forms.  C. M. Yonge thought it was Welsh or Scottish in origin, perhaps confusing Beathag and Bethan (Welsh diminutive of Elizabeth) together. Charles W. Bardesley, writing in 1880, considered it to be a latinised form of Elizabeth, stating: "Queen Anne’s reign, even William and Mary’s reign, saw the fashionable rage for Latinized forms [...] Elizabeth was turned into Bethia and Betha." However, his footnotes highlight that others regard it an "incorrect" form of Bithiah that was passed down through families.  UK census records for the name Bethia demonstrate consistent usage through the 19th century: 1841: 1,662 females 1851: 2,073 females (51% England; 48% Scotland; 1% Wales) 1861: 2,115 females  1871: 1,946 females  1881: 1,983 females (39% England; 60% Scotland; 1% Wales) 1891: 2,109 females  1901: 2,034 females  Bethia was still well used up to the 1920s, after which it declined to just a handful of registrations per decade.  Since 1996, Bethia has ranked every year in England and Wales (except 1997 and 2002) with a birth count of between 3 and 9. It's highest point was #1996 in 2003 and it's lowest was #5707 in 2010. In 2012 it ranked #4838 with 4 births.  Bethia has not ranked at all in Scotland since 2005.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Bethia Baillie (b.c.1682), heiress of Castlecary Castle. * Lucy Bethia Walford (1845-1915), Scottish author. Contemporary: * Bethia Beadman (b.1981), British musician. Other: * Bethia, original name of the HMS Bounty.

Variants:

Bithiah, Bithia (Biblical) Bityah, Batyah, Batya (Hebrew)

Pronunciation:

BETH-ee-ə, beth-Ī-ə [key]

Possible  diminutives:

Beth, Bea, Bebi, Betty

Sibling Names:

Talitha     Damaris     Shira     Persis     Keturah     Hadassah  Abram     Saul      Noam      Malachi     Nicander     Elias

Name Lists:

Quirky Biblical Names

 

If you like Bethia you may also like:   Kezia, Zilla, Betony, Amira, Sarai, Cassia, Bethel, Dinah, Xenia, Bianca

 

Thanks to Bethia for requesting this post.