NameRealm
Tess

Tess: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“to harvest”
Origin
Greek
Say it
TESS · 1 syllable
Used for
Girls

Short form of Theresa or Tessa. Theresa's etymology is uncertain, but Tess is traditionally linked with that name; it is also familiar from Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles. The origin of this name is not settled among etymologists.

English namesClassic namesShort namesLiterary names

How popular is Tess?

202434.0 per million US babies
1880192019602000
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.

Babies named Tess in 2024113

2024 rank#1,772 girls

Peak year1993

Total US babies since 188014,653

Tess is fading: recent use is about 53% of its level ten years before.

Names like Tess

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Tessato reap · Greek
  • Teresauncertain, possibly harvest · Greek
  • Theresauncertain, possibly harvest · Greek
  • Thereseuncertain, possibly summer or harvest · Greek
  • Tessieto reap; harvester · English
  • Tressathird · English
  • Tressieharvester · English
  • Sophiawisdom · Greek

Tess questions

What does the name Tess mean?

Tess means "to harvest". It comes from Greek. Short form of Theresa or Tessa. Theresa's etymology is uncertain, but Tess is traditionally linked with that name; it is also familiar from Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles.

Is Tess a boy or girl name?

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

How popular is Tess?

113 US babies were named Tess in 2024. Its peak year was 1993.

How do you pronounce Tess?

Tess is usually pronounced TESS.

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.