Meaning not yet researched.
Bess: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 5 in 2025. Its best rank was #157 in 1887.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #157 in 1887; #15,307 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Bess in 2025 was a girl.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#15,307 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1887, at #157.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Bess: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 5 girls in 2025. Peak: #157 in 1887 · most girls in one year: 182 (1889).
In 2025, 5 US girls were named Bess, making it the 15,307th most common girls’ name of the year. Its best rank for girls was #157, reached in 1887. The most girls given the name in a single year was 182, in 1889. For comparison, it was #14,797 in 2015 and #2,670 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Bess in 142 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1880 with 46 babies. In all, 7,176 US babies have been given the name, 99.9% of them girls and 0.1% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1890s, with 1,531 babies named Bess.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 37 US girls were named Bess; the busiest of those years was 2020, with 8. In 2025 that was about 1 in 321,453 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Related spellings in the SSA files include Bessie (170,877 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Besse are summarised on this page. The open nickname list we use links it to Bessie.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in English. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
Rare spellings summarised here: Besse (671).
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
Bess is listed as a nickname for Bessie, Elizabeth.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5 | #15,307 | — | — |
| 2022 | 6 | #13,868 | — | — |
| 2020 | 8 | #11,260 | — | — |
| 2019 | 5 | #15,918 | — | — |
| 2018 | 7 | #12,699 | — | — |
| 2016 | 6 | #14,625 | — | — |
| 2015 | 6 | #14,797 | — | — |
| 2014 | 8 | #12,126 | — | — |
| 2013 | 7 | #13,401 | — | — |
| 2012 | 6 | #15,266 | — | — |
| 2011 | 7 | #13,587 | — | — |
| 2010 | 7 | #13,688 | — | — |
| 2009 | 8 | #12,620 | — | — |
| 2008 | 7 | #14,071 | — | — |
| 2007 | 8 | #12,856 | — | — |
| 2006 | 6 | #15,428 | — | — |
| 2005 | 18 | #6,573 | — | — |
| 2004 | 5 | #16,475 | — | — |
| 2003 | 12 | #8,595 | — | — |
| 2002 | 14 | #7,492 | — | — |
| 2001 | 10 | #9,462 | — | — |
| 2000 | 9 | #10,009 | — | — |
| 1999 | 11 | #8,305 | — | — |
| 1998 | 8 | #10,251 | — | — |
| 1997 | 14 | #6,533 | — | — |
| 1996 | 14 | #6,443 | — | — |
| 1995 | 11 | #7,577 | — | — |
| 1994 | 11 | #7,667 | — | — |
| 1993 | 14 | #6,305 | — | — |
| 1992 | 16 | #5,752 | — | — |
| 1991 | 12 | #7,014 | — | — |
| 1990 | 16 | #5,586 | — | — |
| 1989 | 20 | #4,534 | — | — |
| 1988 | 28 | #3,400 | — | — |
| 1987 | 29 | #3,178 | — | — |
| 1986 | 29 | #3,141 | — | — |
| 1985 | 27 | #3,256 | — | — |
| 1984 | 38 | #2,475 | — | — |
| 1983 | 27 | #3,072 | — | — |
| 1982 | 29 | #3,021 | — | — |
| 1981 | 38 | #2,492 | — | — |
| 1980 | 28 | #3,075 | — | — |
| 1979 | 25 | #3,251 | — | — |
| 1978 | 33 | #2,578 | — | — |
| 1977 | 26 | #3,009 | — | — |
| 1976 | 22 | #3,195 | — | — |
| 1975 | 11 | #5,188 | — | — |
| 1974 | 14 | #4,244 | — | — |
| 1973 | 20 | #3,241 | — | — |
| 1972 | 15 | #3,910 | — | — |
| 1971 | 18 | #3,517 | — | — |
| 1970 | 19 | #3,320 | — | — |
| 1969 | 20 | #3,018 | — | — |
| 1968 | 8 | #5,180 | — | — |
| 1967 | 15 | #3,356 | — | — |
| 1966 | 19 | #2,852 | — | — |
| 1965 | 19 | #2,843 | — | — |
| 1964 | 19 | #2,921 | — | — |
| 1963 | 26 | #2,372 | — | — |
| 1962 | 34 | #1,993 | — | — |
| 1961 | 33 | #2,039 | — | — |
| 1960 | 26 | #2,314 | — | — |
| 1959 | 26 | #2,237 | — | — |
| 1958 | 34 | #1,877 | — | — |
| 1957 | 28 | #2,071 | — | — |
| 1956 | 28 | #2,059 | — | — |
| 1955 | 23 | #2,282 | — | — |
| 1954 | 34 | #1,772 | — | — |
| 1953 | 23 | #2,177 | — | — |
| 1952 | 30 | #1,824 | — | — |
| 1951 | 16 | #2,585 | — | — |
| 1950 | 15 | #2,670 | — | — |
| 1949 | 20 | #2,217 | — | — |
| 1948 | 35 | #1,576 | — | — |
| 1947 | 21 | #2,153 | — | — |
| 1946 | 24 | #1,866 | — | — |
| 1945 | 21 | #1,831 | — | — |
| 1944 | 25 | #1,668 | — | — |
| 1943 | 32 | #1,471 | — | — |
| 1942 | 32 | #1,443 | — | — |
| 1941 | 31 | #1,386 | — | — |
| 1940 | 29 | #1,409 | — | — |
| 1939 | 27 | #1,429 | — | — |
| 1938 | 23 | #1,602 | — | — |
| 1937 | 18 | #1,852 | — | — |
| 1936 | 20 | #1,696 | — | — |
| 1935 | 17 | #1,930 | — | — |
| 1934 | 26 | #1,443 | — | — |
| 1933 | 28 | #1,370 | — | — |
| 1932 | 29 | #1,387 | — | — |
| 1931 | 27 | #1,424 | — | — |
| 1930 | 36 | #1,253 | — | — |
| 1929 | 33 | #1,312 | — | — |
| 1928 | 33 | #1,342 | — | — |
| 1927 | 58 | #1,000 | — | — |
| 1926 | 55 | #1,005 | — | — |
| 1925 | 64 | #932 | — | — |
| 1924 | 81 | #830 | — | — |
| 1923 | 81 | #812 | — | — |
| 1922 | 74 | #853 | — | — |
| 1921 | 84 | #798 | — | — |
| 1920 | 82 | #798 | — | — |
| 1919 | 99 | #704 | — | — |
| 1918 | 103 | #712 | — | — |
| 1917 | 103 | #671 | — | — |
| 1916 | 131 | #586 | — | — |
| 1915 | 122 | #589 | — | — |
| 1914 | 93 | #590 | — | — |
| 1913 | 119 | #457 | — | — |
| 1912 | 125 | #415 | — | — |
| 1911 | 93 | #421 | — | — |
| 1910 | 88 | #421 | — | — |
| 1909 | 95 | #381 | — | — |
| 1908 | 91 | #376 | — | — |
| 1907 | 103 | #343 | — | — |
| 1906 | 101 | #332 | — | — |
| 1905 | 87 | #362 | — | — |
| 1904 | 96 | #336 | — | — |
| 1903 | 112 | #293 | — | — |
| 1902 | 104 | #309 | — | — |
| 1901 | 107 | #289 | — | — |
| 1900 | 134 | #280 | — | — |
| 1899 | 123 | #255 | — | — |
| 1898 | 151 | #239 | — | — |
| 1897 | 137 | #243 | — | — |
| 1896 | 151 | #224 | — | — |
| 1895 | 150 | #224 | — | — |
| 1894 | 177 | #197 | 5 | #1,096 |
| 1893 | 169 | #197 | — | — |
| 1892 | 177 | #190 | — | — |
| 1891 | 137 | #199 | — | — |
| 1890 | 154 | #190 | — | — |
| 1889 | 182 | #164 | — | — |
| 1888 | 164 | #176 | — | — |
| 1887 | 155 | #157 | — | — |
| 1886 | 128 | #180 | — | — |
| 1885 | 97 | #192 | — | — |
| 1884 | 105 | #170 | — | — |
| 1883 | 94 | #170 | — | — |
| 1882 | 76 | #180 | — | — |
| 1881 | 52 | #208 | — | — |
| 1880 | 46 | #227 | — | — |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).