Betsy songs: Sweet Betsy from Pike Bang went ol' Betsy Ballad of Ole' Betsy

Famous Real Betsy's: Betsy Ross (flagmaker) Betsy Randle (actress) Betsy Palmer (actress) Betsy Palmer (Amsterdam shoe company) Betsey Clark (artist) Betsy Byars (author)

Fictional Betsy's: Betsy McCall Betsy Wetsy Baby Betsy Tall Betsy

Betsy Books/Movies: The Betsy (also a movie) Betsy's Wedding Heavens to Betsy Betsy's Busy Summer Betsy and Star Understood Betsy (order it: hardback/ paperback)

On the trailing edge of the baby boom, impressed by the pagentry of the coronation of a new queen of England, many new mothers named their daughters "Elizabeth". Some girls grew up using the full name, some shortened it to "Beth" or "Liz". A smaller number were called by the diminuative "Betsy".

Betsy's often get called "Becky", "Bessie", or "Betty", or misspelled "Besty". Growing up in the 50's, we had the fun of being teased about Sweet Betsy from Pike, Bang went ole Betsy (song about Dan'l Boone's rifle), Betsy Ross, Hurricane Betsy, and of course the infamous Betsy Wetsy doll.

I went all through high school and college without ever meeting another Betsy. Even now, I can count on one hand the number of other Betsy's I have met. Thanks to the web, I've now heard from several. Included are "Betsey", "Betsi", "Bitsy", and the really different "Betcei" (I considered "Betzi" for a while myself). There's even a test scoring system: Bayesian Essay Test Scoring sYstem - "BETSY"!

Now, when I search the web I find that not only are there lots of other Betsy's, but even lots of other Betsy Riley's. So, I know you're out there...how about dropping me a line about your "Betsy" experiences?