Though the royal title would be short-lived, it allowed the family to firmly establish itself afterwards in the Azores and Madeira islands.

Some of these spellings include: Bethancourt/Betancourt, Bettencourt, Béthencourt, Bentancour, Bentancourt, Betancoor, Betancur, Betancurt, Betancurth, Betancor, Betancurt, Betencur, Betancor, Bentancour, Bethancourt, Bittencourt, Bitencourt and DeBettencourt.

Bettencourt and Béthencourt correspond with Bettenhoffen, Bettenhof or Bettenhoven found in Alsace, Germany or Flanders cf.

[2][3] The surname Bettencourt/Béthencourt with various spellings extended throughout Spain, Portugal and their colonies, after the Norman-French explorer Jean de Béthencourt, who conquered the Canary Islands for Spain and received the title King of the Canary Islands.

Other modern notables are Venezuelan baseball player Rafael Betancourt, Azorean (Portuguese)-born American musician Nuno Bettencourt, Colombian-French activist/politician Ingrid Betancourt and Uruguayan activist Walner Ademir Bentancour Garin, disappeared by the Uruguayan and Argentinian military juntas in 1976.