How common is the surname Besser?

1,790 people in the United States had the surname Besser in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 172,484 Americans. It ranked 16,157th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Besser?

In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Besser identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Besser?

Joe Besser, American actor and comedian (1907–1988), followed by Matt Besser.

Where is the surname Besser most common?

Wikidata records people named Besser in the United States.

Is the surname Besser getting more or less common?

More common. 1,708 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,790 in 2010, up 4.8%.

The surname Besser

A German surname, carried by 1,790 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex B260

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Besser is more common than 90% of them.

Origin

German origin

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

One of 1,101 German surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 1,790 people named Besser in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 172,484 Americans. That is up 4.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,708.

#16,157

rank among US surnames

1,790

people in 2010

0.6

per 100,000 Americans

+4.8%

change since 2000 (was #15,704)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#16,150	Zeitler	1,791	172,387
#16,157	Besser	1,790	172,484
#16,161	Amend	1,789	172,580
#16,166	Hayek	1,788	172,676

Who is named Besser

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

95% of people named Besser identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.3% as two or more races.

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

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Bessers

2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Joe Besser
American actor and comedian (1907–1988)
Matt Besser
American actor and comedian, born 1967

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Besser

Besser has the Soundex code B260, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code B260.

Other German surnames

All 1,101 German surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Besser come from?: From the German surname, from Middle High German bezzerære, agent noun from Old High German bezzern (“to collect fines”).
How common is the surname Besser?: 1,790 people in the United States had the surname Besser in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 172,484 Americans. It ranked 16,157th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Besser?: In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Besser identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Besser?: Joe Besser, American actor and comedian (1907–1988), followed by Matt Besser.
Where is the surname Besser most common?: Wikidata records people named Besser in the United States.
Is the surname Besser getting more or less common?: More common. 1,708 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,790 in 2010, up 4.8%.