Explore the Family Name Better

The meaning of Better

1. Americanized form (translation into English) of French Lemieux. 2. English: variant of Bater. 3. German (Bavaria): metonymic occupational name for a maker of rosaries, from Bavarian better ‘rosary’ (from beten ‘to pray’).

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Better in the United States?

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname 'Better' experienced a decline between the years 2000 and 2010. In the year 2000, 'Better' was ranked 44,654 as a popular surname, but by 2010 it fell to a rank of 51,176, showing a decrease of about 14.61%. The actual count of individuals with this surname also declined from 453 to 407 during this period, marking a drop of approximately 10.15%. Consequently, the proportion of the surname per 100k residents decreased by about 17.65%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#44,654	#51,176	-14.61%
Count	453	407	-10.15%
Proportion per 100k	0.17	0.14	-17.65%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Better

In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the majority of people with the 'Better' surname identified as White in both 2000 and 2010, with a slight decrease of 1.46% over the decade. The Hispanic ethnicity group showed an increase, rising from 11.92% to 14.50%, while the Black ethnicity remained relatively stable with a small increase from 21.19% to 21.38%. The percentage of those identifying with two or more races saw a significant decline, dropping almost half from 2.43% to 1.23%. There were no recorded instances of 'Better' surname bearers identifying as either Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	63.58%	62.65%	-1.46%
Black	21.19%	21.38%	0.9%
Hispanic	11.92%	14.5%	21.64%
Two or More Races	2.43%	1.23%	-49.38%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%