Feminine dossier · first seen 1880
Bess
Stable Decline
Gradual decline from 1889
Peak era
1889
Peak births
182
Current vitality
Rare
Peak generation
Greatest Generation
Quick answers about Bess
How many people are named Bess?
An estimated 1,200 living Americans are named Bess.
How rare is Bess?
Bess is very rare among babies today, with 5 girls receiving the name in 2025, down 97.3% from its 1889 peak.
How old is the typical Bess?
The median age of a living American named Bess is approximately 48 years, with most bearers falling between 37 and 65 years old.
Is Bess still popular?
Not especially. Bess has been declining since its 1889 peak and registered 5 births in 2025.
Where is Bess most common?
Bess has its strongest geographic signal in Texas, where it appears 2.6× more often than the national baseline.
1880Peak 18892025
Peak year
1889
Decline from peak
97.3%
2025
5
All-time
7,171
Where it lives now
Bess is most concentrated in Texas — about 2.0× the national rate in the 1920s.
States where Bess is given more often than the national average — its present-day heartland.