Anne Burgess wrote >>> How popular is the name Beatrice and its variants? > > I would agree with Ray that Beatrice and variants are quite rare. > > However there is potential for confusion because Betty/Betsy is used > as an abbreviation for both Beatrice and Elizabeth, and I have seen a > couple of ladies who were variously recorded as both Beatrice and > Elizabeth. ... So although it's unlikely, you cannot eliminate the > possibility that a Beatrice was baptised Elizabeth and vice versa. My inclination is to assume [no evidence, just modern arrogance!] that a Beatrice might be called Beattie or Betty. If Beattie, she would always be known as Beatrice. However if her pet name was Betty, her name could easily be assumed by a scribe in ahurry to be Elizabeth. It would be interesting [to me at least] to follow some of these people through their lives but my gut feel is that Betty was normally assumed to be Elizabeth [or a variant] and if it was used for a Beatrice, then confusion could result. Of course Betty and Beattie probably sounded the same to a non-local which would be what most of the Ministers and Census Enumerators would be. Anyway. In the 1841 Census there are over 400 Betty, Betsy and variations, and over 8000 Elizabeth/Elisabeths and 4000+ variants of Eliza/Elisa/Elspet/Elspit. I have ignored the 6000++ variations on Isobel/Isabel for this analysis. Given the very tiny number of variants of Beatrice [65], it seems unlikely that many of the Bettys are actually Beatrice!! [But I did allow for a few in my guesstimate of 0.1%. Hah! :-)) ] Best wishes Ray www.whatsinaname.net