# Besser (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/besser/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | German |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 1,790 |
| US rank (2010) | 16,157 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 172,484 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.8% (1,708 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From the German surname, from Middle High German bezzerære, agent noun from Old High German bezzern (“to collect fines”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Besser in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 95% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.7% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 1.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Besser in the United States.

## People named Besser

- Joe Besser, American actor and comedian (1907–1988)
- Matt Besser, American actor and comedian

## Similar surnames

Bussiere, Becker, Becher, Buescher, Baker, Booker, Becerra, Boucher, Bowser, Bucher, Beecher, Boozer.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.