Chances are, a lot of new babies today have a Bess, Betty, or Beth somewhere in their family line, and there are plenty of other names one could use to get those nicknames. :)
- Bestla (BEST-lah, Icelandic, Norse mythology)--from Old Norse, poss. "wife" or "tree bark"
- Bethan (BETH-an, Welsh)--diminutive of Elizabeth.
Other forms include Besseta (BESS-et-ah, [archaic] Scottish), Betha (BETH-ah, [archaic] English), Betheline (BETH-eh-lyn, [archaic] English), Betsan (BET-san, Welsh), Bettan (BET-tan, Swedish), Bettina (bet-TEE-nah, German), Bettis (BET-tis, Swedish), Bettline (bet-LEE-neh, [archaic] German), Lisbet (LIS-bet, Scandinavian), and Lisbeth (LEEZ-bet, German). - Bethania (beth-AHN-yah, [Biblical] Latin & Greek; bet-AHN-yah, Spanish)--form of Biblical Hebrew Bethany, poss. "house of dates".
Other forms include Betania (bet-AHN-yah, Italian, Swedish, Spanish), Betânia (bet-AHN-yah, Portuguese), and Béthanie (bay-tah-NEE, French). - Bethel (BETH-el, [Biblical] Hebrew)--"house of God"
- Bethia (BETH-ee-ah, [Biblical] Hebrew)--"daughter of God"
[more commonly transliterated as Bithiah; sometimes used as an 'Anglicization' of Scottish Beathag, "life"] - Bethsabée (bet-sah-BAY, French)--from Biblical Hebrew Bathsheba, prob. "daughter of oath".
Other forms include Betsabá (bet-sab-AH, Portuguese), Betsabé (bet-sah-BAY, Spanish), Betsabea (bet-sah-BEH-ah, Italian), & Betsabeia (bet-sab-AY-ah, Portuguese). - Bethuela (bet-oo-EL-ah, Spanish; beth-WEL-ah, beth-yoo-EL-ah, [archaic] English)--from Biblical Hebrew, prob. "man of God".
Another (very rare) form is Bethuelle (bet-oo-EL, French). - Betlinde (bet-LEEN-deh, Germanic)--prob. "bright & soft" [possible source of the name Belinda]
- Betony (BET-ah-nee, English)
- Betrys (BET-ris, Welsh)--form of Beatrice
- Betsaida (bet-SYE-dah, Spanish)--from Biblical Hebrew Bethsaida, prob. "house of fishing"
- Bettina (bet-TEE-nah, Italian)--diminutive of Elisabetta or Benedetta.
Of course, many international forms & contractions of Elizabeth also work, especially for Betty:
- Arisbeth / Elibeth / Elisabet / Isabet (Spanish)
- Elisabet /Elsebeth / Elsebet (Scandinavian)
- Elisabete (Portuguese)
- Elisabetta (Italian)
- Elizabeta (Croatian, Slovenian)
- Elsabeth / Lilibeth (English)
- Erzsébet (Hungarian)
- Ilsebet / Ilsebeth (German, Danish)
And even more! Elizabeth has been used to form new combination names all over the western world (many overlapping between multiple languages), quite a few of which could also lead to Beth or Betty. Here's a small sampling:
- Annabeth / Annebet
- Elínbet
- Embeth
- Evabeth
- Ingebeth
- Kajsabet
- Lillibeth / Lilibet / Lilybeth
- Marybeth / Maribeth / Maribet
- Rosabeth / Rosbet
- Sarabeth
- Ullabeth