Bessie
A diminutive form of Elizabeth, meaning "God is my oath" in Hebrew.
Name Census estimates that about 17,942 living Americans carry the first name Bessie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bessie today is around 76 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bessie births was 1916 (4,132 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bessie. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Bessie with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Bessie is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 737 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Bessie is about 76 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bessies were born before 1960.
- • Compared to the 1910s, recent registration numbers for Bessie have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
18K
~ 1 in 19,103 Americans
Peak year
1916
4,132 babies that year
Average age
76
years old
1956 SSA rank
#3,998
Tracked since 1880
Census
Bessie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 20,913 people with the first name Bessie, which placed it at #1,560 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,560
National first-name rank
People counted
21K
20,913 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
6.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
45.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bessie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bessie is Black at 45.1%. The next largest groups are White (44.0%) and Hispanic (3.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Bessie described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Bessie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American45.1% · 9,441
- White44.0% · 9,192
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 790
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 520
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 492
- Two or more races2.3% · 478
Gender
Gender distribution for Bessie
Out of the 170,860 babies given the name Bessie since 1880, 99.6% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Bessie as a male name
- Ranked #3,998 in 1956
- 5 male births in 1956
- Peak: 1928 (27 births)
Bessie as a female name
- Ranked #9,630 in 2024
- 10 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1916 (4,122 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bessie appears almost entirely female. Of the 20,905 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Bessie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bessie from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 33,991 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bessie by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Bessie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bessies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 50 states and territories. Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia recorded the most babies named Bessie, while Alaska, Rhode Island, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,060 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bessie
The name Bessie is an English diminutive form of the name Elizabeth, which is derived from the Hebrew name Elisheva, meaning "my God is an oath" or "my God is abundance." The first recorded use of the name Bessie dates back to the late 13th century in England.
Bessie gained popularity as a pet form of Elizabeth during the Middle Ages in England. It was commonly used as a nickname or a shortened version of the more formal name Elizabeth. The name Bessie was often associated with domesticity and simplicity, reflecting its use as a nickname for common folk.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bessie is in the 14th century English work "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer, where a character named Bessie is mentioned. Additionally, the name appeared in various English literature and plays throughout the Renaissance period.
Historically, several notable individuals have borne the name Bessie. One of the most famous was Bessie Smith (1894-1937), an influential American blues singer known as the "Empress of the Blues." She was a pioneering artist who helped shape the development of blues and jazz music in the early 20th century.
Another notable figure was Bessie Coleman (1892-1926), an American aviator who became the first African American woman to earn a pilot's license. She was a trailblazer in the field of aviation and worked to inspire and encourage other African American pilots.
In the literary realm, Bessie Head (1937-1986) was a significant South African writer and teacher. Her works, including the novels "When Rain Clouds Gather" and "Maru," explored themes of racial discrimination, identity, and the struggles of life in apartheid-era South Africa.
Bessie Stringfield (1911-1993) was an American motorcycle pioneer and one of the first African American women to ride motorcycles across the United States. She was a remarkable figure who defied gender and racial stereotypes of her time.
Lastly, Bessie Rayner Parkes (1829-1925) was a British feminist and writer who fought for women's rights and advocated for educational opportunities for women. She co-founded the English Woman's Journal and was a prominent figure in the early British women's rights movement.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who bore the name Bessie throughout history, reflecting its enduring presence and cultural significance across various fields and eras.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Bessie
People
Bessie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bessie as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bessie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bessie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17,942 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bessie going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 19,103 US residents.
Is Bessie a common name?
We classify Bessie as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 170,860 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bessie most popular?
The single biggest year for Bessie was 1916, when 4,132 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bessie is about 76 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bessie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 20,913 people with the name Bessie, or 6.92 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,560 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Bessie in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Bessie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bessie appears almost entirely female. Of the 20,905 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Bessie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bessie is Black at 45.1%. The next largest groups are White (44.0%) and Hispanic (3.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Bessie most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Bessie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.1% (9,441 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Bessie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bessie a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Bessie in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Bessie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bessie in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Bessie can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Bessie?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Bessie at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.