# Bess (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/bess/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /bɛs/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 7,176 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 5 / 7,171 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 134, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Variant of Beth, a clipping of Elizabeth.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 8 | 12,856 |
| 2008 | 7 | 14,071 |
| 2009 | 8 | 12,620 |
| 2010 | 7 | 13,688 |
| 2011 | 7 | 13,587 |
| 2012 | 6 | 15,266 |
| 2013 | 7 | 13,401 |
| 2014 | 8 | 12,126 |
| 2015 | 6 | 14,797 |
| 2016 | 6 | 14,625 |
| 2018 | 7 | 12,699 |
| 2019 | 5 | 15,918 |
| 2020 | 8 | 11,260 |
| 2022 | 6 | 13,868 |
| 2025 | 5 | 15,307 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1894 | 5 | 1,096 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 8 | 2,721 |
| 2009 | 10 | 2,326 |
| 2010 | 4 | 4,688 |
| 2011 | 5 | 4,049 |
| 2012 | 6 | 3,681 |
| 2013 | 7 | 3,160 |
| 2014 | 14 | 1,966 |
| 2015 | 10 | 2,496 |
| 2016 | 11 | 2,367 |
| 2017 | 6 | 3,583 |
| 2018 | 7 | 3,178 |
| 2020 | 6 | 3,447 |
| 2021 | 4 | 4,634 |
| 2023 | 8 | 2,927 |
| 2024 | 3 | 5,891 |

## People named Bess

- Bess Truman, First Lady of the United States from 1945 to 1953
- Bess Armstrong, American actress
- Bess Meredyth, Film actress, Film writer (1890-1969)
- Bess Flowers, American actress (1898–1984)
- Bess Myerson, American model, city commissioner, TV show celebrity; first Jewish-American and first Miss

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.