Bess

Bess: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning: “pledged to God”
Origin: Hebrew
Say it: BES · 1 syllable
Used for: Girls

Bess is a traditional English short form of Elizabeth. It shares Elizabeth’s Hebrew origin through Elisheba.

English names Names meaning faith Classic names Short names

How popular is Bess?

20240 per million US babies

Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Compare with another name

Babies named Bess in 20240

Peak year1889

Total US babies since 18807,171

Bess was not given to enough US babies in 2024 to appear in the records.

Names like Bess

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

IsabellaGod is my oath · Italian
Elizabethmy God is an oath · Hebrew
Lillianlily · English
ElizaGod is my oath · Hebrew
ElsieGod is my oath · Scottish Gaelic
IsabelGod is my oath · Hebrew
IsabelleGod is my oath · French
BettyGod is my oath · English

Bess questions

What does the name Bess mean?

Bess means "pledged to God". It comes from Hebrew. Bess is a traditional English short form of Elizabeth. It shares Elizabeth’s Hebrew origin through Elisheba.

Is Bess a boy or girl name?

Bess is mainly a girl's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Bess?

Bess was given to fewer than 5 babies of either sex in 2024; its peak year was 1889.

How do you pronounce Bess?

Bess is usually pronounced BES.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.