Bess

Primarily a girl's name · 100% girls

Origin: English

Bess first appears in the data in 1880 and has been recorded in 141 different years as a girl's name. Its single biggest year was 1889 with 182 babies (rank #164 that year). It was not in the 2024 data. The name has been declining over the last five years.

Numerology of Bess

In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Bess yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.

9Destiny numberThe humanitarianIdealistic, compassionate, thinks in big-picture terms.Sum of every letter. The overall character a name carries.
5Soul urgeThe free spiritCurious, restless, energised by change.Sum of the vowels — what's said to drive the heart.
4PersonalityThe builderPractical, steady, gets results through hard work.Sum of the consonants — the outer impression.

7,171

Total babies (all years)

141

Years in the data

182

Peak in a single year

Popularity Over Time — Girls

Famous people named Bess

Bess Trumanpolitician · b. 1885
Bess Armstrongfilm actor · b. 1953

Share your Bess story

Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.

More popular girls' names

Other girls' names starting with B

Year-by-Year Detail

Rank is among all girls' names registered that year.

Year	Babies	Rank
1880	46	#227
1881	52	#208
1882	76	#180
1883	94	#170
1884	105	#170
1885	97	#192
1886	128	#180
1887	155	#157
1888	164	#176
1889	182	#164
1890	154	#190
1891	137	#199
1892	177	#190
1893	169	#197
1894	177	#197
1895	150	#224
1896	151	#224
1897	137	#243
1898	151	#239
1899	123	#255
1900	134	#280
1901	107	#289
1902	104	#309
1903	112	#293
1904	96	#336
1905	87	#362
1906	101	#332
1907	103	#343
1908	91	#376
1909	95	#381
1910	88	#421
1911	93	#421
1912	125	#415
1913	119	#457
1914	93	#590
1915	122	#589
1916	131	#586
1917	103	#671
1918	103	#712
1919	99	#704
1920	82	#798
1921	84	#798
1922	74	#853
1923	81	#812
1924	81	#830
1925	64	#932
1926	55	#1,005
1927	58	#1,000
1928	33	#1,342
1929	33	#1,312
1930	36	#1,253
1931	27	#1,424
1932	29	#1,387
1933	28	#1,370
1934	26	#1,443
1935	17	#1,930
1936	20	#1,696
1937	18	#1,852
1938	23	#1,602
1939	27	#1,429
1940	29	#1,409
1941	31	#1,385
1942	32	#1,444
1943	32	#1,471
1944	25	#1,668
1945	21	#1,831
1946	24	#1,865
1947	21	#2,153
1948	35	#1,576
1949	20	#2,217
1950	15	#2,670
1951	16	#2,585
1952	30	#1,824
1953	23	#2,177
1954	34	#1,772
1955	23	#2,282
1956	28	#2,059
1957	28	#2,071
1958	34	#1,877
1959	26	#2,237
1960	26	#2,315
1961	33	#2,039
1962	34	#1,993
1963	26	#2,373
1964	19	#2,923
1965	19	#2,843
1966	19	#2,852
1967	15	#3,356
1968	8	#5,179
1969	20	#3,018
1970	19	#3,319
1971	18	#3,516
1972	15	#3,910
1973	20	#3,241
1974	14	#4,244
1975	11	#5,189
1976	22	#3,196
1977	26	#3,008
1978	33	#2,577
1979	25	#3,251
1980	28	#3,075
1981	38	#2,493
1982	29	#3,021
1983	27	#3,072
1984	38	#2,475
1985	27	#3,255
1986	29	#3,140
1987	29	#3,178
1988	28	#3,400
1989	20	#4,534
1990	16	#5,586
1991	12	#7,014
1992	16	#5,752
1993	14	#6,306
1994	11	#7,666
1995	11	#7,576
1996	14	#6,443
1997	14	#6,533
1998	8	#10,251
1999	11	#8,304
2000	9	#10,008
2001	10	#9,462
2002	14	#7,492
2003	12	#8,595
2004	5	#16,474
2005	18	#6,572
2006	6	#15,428
2007	8	#12,855
2008	7	#14,070
2009	8	#12,619
2010	7	#13,686
2011	7	#13,585
2012	6	#15,266
2013	7	#13,400
2014	8	#12,122
2015	6	#14,794
2016	6	#14,621
2018	7	#12,697
2019	5	#15,908
2020	8	#11,255
2022	6	#13,858