Bessie

Bessie: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning: “God is my oath”
Origin: English
Say it: BES-ee · 2 syllables
Used for: Girls

Bessie is an English diminutive of Elizabeth. Elizabeth comes from Hebrew Elisheva, meaning 'God is my oath'.

English names Scottish names Names meaning faith Vintage names Short names Classic names

How popular is Bessie?

20243.0 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 Bessie in 202410

Peak year1889

Total US babies since 1880170,860

Bessie is steady now but far below its 1889 peak.

Names like Bessie

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

Bessie questions

What does the name Bessie mean?

Bessie means "God is my oath". It comes from English. Bessie is an English diminutive of Elizabeth. Elizabeth comes from Hebrew Elisheva, meaning 'God is my oath'.

Is Bessie a boy or girl name?

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

How popular is Bessie?

10 US babies were named Bessie in 2024. Its peak year was 1889.

How do you pronounce Bessie?

Bessie is usually pronounced BES-ee.

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.