In 1994, Betty Krueger of Red Cloud, Nebraska, took out a personal ad in the Hastings Tribune. It began:
BETTY — To anyone named Betty or who goes by the name of Betty, would you like to meet other Bettys? How many of us are there?
Twelve Bettys (including Krueger) attended the first meeting of the Betty Club, which continues to meet several times per year to this day.
The original Betty Club inspired Bettys across the state to create more than a dozen other Betty Clubs in the mid-1990s. Not long after that, Nebraska’s annual Betty Convention was established.
The second convention, held in 1998, was attended by 64 Bettys and covered by the New York Times, which noted that “Betty clubs exist in other states, but Nebraska is said to be especially rich in Bettys.”
Sources:
- Page, Sydney. “Only women named Betty join this club: ‘It is very nice for the Bettys’.” Washington Post 2 Apr. 2025.
- Johnson, Dirk. “A Club Where Everyone Is on a First-Name Basis.” New York Times 28 Apr. 1998: A12.
- “Betty: What’s in a name?” [news video]. CBS News 6 May 2012.
Image: Adapted from Chaises-saint-denis (public domain) by Thierry Caro
Not a club, but a friend of mine started a facebook group for people who share his first & last name. At one point they had a couple hundred people, mostly from North America & Europe, but not exclusively by any means.
I love that people can just start Facebook groups for names now. Less effort, wider reach.