Bess
Bess was given to 5 girls in 2025, #15,303 among girls’ names; 7,176 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,380 Americans named Bess and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (19% of everyone recorded); the median is 51 years old and half are between 38 and 69.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Bess by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Bess mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Bess is “a diminutive of the female given name Elizabeth.”
Variant of Beth, a clipping of Elizabeth.
/bɛs/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Bess?
#15,303 among girls’ names, 2025
Bess fell from #14,792 in 2015 to #15,303 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 3.4 to 3.1 per million.
182 babies in 1889, the peak
Bess peaked in 1889, when 182 girls were given it, #164 among girls’ names. The 5 births of 2025 are 3% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5 | #15,303 | under 0.01 |
| 2022 | 6 | #13,863 | under 0.01 |
| 2020 | 8 | #11,255 | under 0.01 |
| 2019 | 5 | #15,912 | under 0.01 |
| 2018 | 7 | #12,694 | under 0.01 |
| 2016 | 6 | #14,620 | under 0.01 |
| 2015 | 6 | #14,792 | under 0.01 |
| 2014 | 8 | #12,120 | under 0.01 |
| 2013 | 7 | #13,396 | under 0.01 |
| 2012 | 6 | #15,259 | under 0.01 |
Every recorded year (142)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 7 | #13,579 | under 0.01 |
| 2010 | 7 | #13,682 | under 0.01 |
| 2009 | 8 | #12,614 | under 0.01 |
| 2008 | 7 | #14,066 | under 0.01 |
| 2007 | 8 | #12,850 | under 0.01 |
| 2006 | 6 | #15,423 | under 0.01 |
| 2005 | 18 | #6,568 | 0.01 |
| 2004 | 5 | #16,469 | under 0.01 |
| 2003 | 12 | #8,590 | 0.01 |
| 2002 | 14 | #7,486 | 0.01 |
| 2001 | 10 | #9,455 | 0.01 |
| 2000 | 9 | #10,001 | under 0.01 |
| 1999 | 11 | #8,298 | 0.01 |
| 1998 | 8 | #10,244 | under 0.01 |
| 1997 | 14 | #6,528 | 0.01 |
| 1996 | 14 | #6,438 | 0.01 |
| 1995 | 11 | #7,572 | 0.01 |
| 1994 | 11 | #7,661 | 0.01 |
| 1993 | 14 | #6,299 | 0.01 |
| 1992 | 16 | #5,746 | 0.01 |
| 1991 | 12 | #7,007 | 0.01 |
| 1990 | 16 | #5,581 | 0.01 |
| 1989 | 20 | #4,528 | 0.01 |
| 1988 | 28 | #3,395 | 0.02 |
| 1987 | 29 | #3,175 | 0.02 |
| 1986 | 29 | #3,139 | 0.02 |
| 1985 | 27 | #3,255 | 0.02 |
| 1984 | 38 | #2,474 | 0.02 |
| 1983 | 27 | #3,071 | 0.02 |
| 1982 | 29 | #3,020 | 0.02 |
| 1981 | 38 | #2,492 | 0.02 |
| 1980 | 28 | #3,075 | 0.02 |
| 1979 | 25 | #3,251 | 0.02 |
| 1978 | 33 | #2,578 | 0.02 |
| 1977 | 26 | #3,008 | 0.02 |
| 1976 | 22 | #3,194 | 0.02 |
| 1975 | 11 | #5,186 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 14 | #4,243 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 20 | #3,240 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 15 | #3,910 | 0.01 |
| 1971 | 18 | #3,516 | 0.01 |
| 1970 | 19 | #3,320 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 20 | #3,017 | 0.01 |
| 1968 | 8 | #5,179 | under 0.01 |
| 1967 | 15 | #3,355 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 19 | #2,851 | 0.01 |
| 1965 | 19 | #2,842 | 0.01 |
| 1964 | 19 | #2,920 | 0.01 |
| 1963 | 26 | #2,371 | 0.01 |
| 1962 | 34 | #1,992 | 0.02 |
| 1961 | 33 | #2,038 | 0.02 |
| 1960 | 26 | #2,313 | 0.01 |
| 1959 | 26 | #2,236 | 0.01 |
| 1958 | 34 | #1,876 | 0.02 |
| 1957 | 28 | #2,070 | 0.01 |
| 1956 | 28 | #2,058 | 0.01 |
| 1955 | 23 | #2,281 | 0.01 |
| 1954 | 34 | #1,771 | 0.02 |
| 1953 | 23 | #2,176 | 0.01 |
| 1952 | 30 | #1,823 | 0.02 |
| 1951 | 16 | #2,584 | 0.01 |
| 1950 | 15 | #2,669 | 0.01 |
| 1949 | 20 | #2,216 | 0.01 |
| 1948 | 35 | #1,575 | 0.02 |
| 1947 | 21 | #2,152 | 0.01 |
| 1946 | 24 | #1,865 | 0.02 |
| 1945 | 21 | #1,830 | 0.02 |
| 1944 | 25 | #1,667 | 0.02 |
| 1943 | 32 | #1,470 | 0.02 |
| 1942 | 32 | #1,443 | 0.02 |
| 1941 | 31 | #1,386 | 0.03 |
| 1940 | 29 | #1,409 | 0.03 |
| 1939 | 27 | #1,429 | 0.02 |
| 1938 | 23 | #1,602 | 0.02 |
| 1937 | 18 | #1,852 | 0.02 |
| 1936 | 20 | #1,696 | 0.02 |
| 1935 | 17 | #1,929 | 0.02 |
| 1934 | 26 | #1,443 | 0.02 |
| 1933 | 28 | #1,370 | 0.03 |
| 1932 | 29 | #1,387 | 0.03 |
| 1931 | 27 | #1,423 | 0.03 |
| 1930 | 36 | #1,253 | 0.03 |
| 1929 | 33 | #1,311 | 0.03 |
| 1928 | 33 | #1,341 | 0.03 |
| 1927 | 58 | #1,000 | 0.05 |
| 1926 | 55 | #1,005 | 0.05 |
| 1925 | 64 | #932 | 0.05 |
| 1924 | 81 | #830 | 0.06 |
| 1923 | 81 | #812 | 0.07 |
| 1922 | 74 | #853 | 0.06 |
| 1921 | 84 | #798 | 0.07 |
| 1920 | 82 | #798 | 0.07 |
| 1919 | 99 | #704 | 0.09 |
| 1918 | 103 | #712 | 0.09 |
| 1917 | 103 | #671 | 0.10 |
| 1916 | 131 | #586 | 0.13 |
| 1915 | 122 | #589 | 0.12 |
| 1914 | 93 | #590 | 0.12 |
| 1913 | 119 | #457 | 0.19 |
| 1912 | 125 | #415 | 0.22 |
| 1911 | 93 | #421 | 0.22 |
| 1910 | 88 | #421 | 0.22 |
| 1909 | 95 | #381 | 0.27 |
| 1908 | 91 | #376 | 0.27 |
| 1907 | 103 | #343 | 0.32 |
| 1906 | 101 | #332 | 0.34 |
| 1905 | 87 | #362 | 0.30 |
| 1904 | 96 | #336 | 0.35 |
| 1903 | 112 | #293 | 0.43 |
| 1902 | 104 | #309 | 0.39 |
| 1901 | 107 | #289 | 0.45 |
| 1900 | 134 | #280 | 0.45 |
| 1899 | 123 | #255 | 0.53 |
| 1898 | 151 | #239 | 0.58 |
| 1897 | 137 | #243 | 0.58 |
| 1896 | 151 | #224 | 0.63 |
| 1895 | 150 | #224 | 0.64 |
| 1894 | 177 | #197 | 0.79 |
| 1893 | 169 | #197 | 0.79 |
| 1892 | 177 | #190 | 0.83 |
| 1891 | 137 | #199 | 0.74 |
| 1890 | 154 | #190 | 0.81 |
| 1889 | 182 | #164 | 1.0 |
| 1888 | 164 | #176 | 0.92 |
| 1887 | 155 | #157 | 1.1 |
| 1886 | 128 | #180 | 0.89 |
| 1885 | 97 | #192 | 0.73 |
| 1884 | 105 | #170 | 0.81 |
| 1883 | 94 | #170 | 0.84 |
| 1882 | 76 | #180 | 0.70 |
| 1881 | 52 | #208 | 0.57 |
| 1880 | 46 | #227 | 0.51 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Bess a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Bess has been given almost only to girls: 5 boys in 142 years of records.
Girls and boys named Bess: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Bess, and how old are they?
1,380 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 19% of the 7,176 Americans ever recorded as Bess. The median Bess alive today is 51 years old; half are between 38 and 69.
The 2020 Census counted 2,145 people named Bess (2,131 women and girls, 14 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,530 born in the U.S. The Census count is 40% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census records the name people give, which for many is the short form Bess rather than the name on their birth record, and it counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 140 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 386 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 291 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 348 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 148 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 58 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Bess born?
The states with the most babies named Bess are New York, Texas and Illinois, with 60% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 213 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Texas | 201 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Illinois | 117 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Pennsylvania | 73 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Missouri | 48 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Oklahoma | 35 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Kentucky | 33 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Tennessee | 26 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| North Carolina | 21 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Ohio | 17 | not ranked | 0.1× |
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Bess with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Bess
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Bess and names like it
- Compare Bess and HuldaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1880sBess peaked in 1889.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Bess since 1910.
- The top names of 1889The year the most babies were named Bess.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Bess alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with BMost given first.