# Ness (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/ness/  
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 | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 11,037 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,272 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 27,974 people |
| Change since 2000 | -0.2% (11,058 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /nɛs/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Named after the River Ness, of Proto-Brythonic/Pictish origin, from a Proto-Celtic word *Nesta describing great currents, according to MacBain, from the same Proto-Indo-European root that gave the river Νέστος (Néstos), possibly *ned- (“water”) (cf. German nass (“wet”)).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Ness 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) | 94% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.8% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.9% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.0% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 1.6% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Ness in the United States.

## People named Ness

- Eliot Ness, American Prohibition agent (1903-1957)
- Mike Ness, American musician
- Patrick Ness, American-British novelist and children's writer
- Aaron Ness, American ice hockey player

## Similar surnames

Neese, Nuss, Nies, Nease, Nass, Nees, Noss, Neis, Nash, Ngo, Ng, Nix.

## 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.