Bessie Smith
There are approximately 149 people named Bessie Smith living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 2,300,365 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Bessie with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Smith. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
149
1 in 2,300,365
Named Bessie
18K
Alive today
Named Smith
2.8M
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 18K
Rarity: Uncommon
Gender: Female
Peak year: 1916
Average age: 76
Estimated bearers: 2.8M
Rarity: Very Common
Census rank: #1
Per 100K: 828.19
Top ancestry: White (70.9%)
First name trend
Bessie: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Bessie. The peak year was 1916 with 4,132 births. The average person named Bessie today is 76 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Smith surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Smith, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 70.9%.
- White70.9%
- Black or African American23.1%
- Hispanic or Latino2.4%
- Two or more races2.2%
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Bessie has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0052% of the US population, based on 17,942 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Smith appears at a rate of 828.19 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.8282%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 149 people with the full name Bessie Smith. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people with the surname Smith
FAQ
Bessie Smith: questions and answers
How many people are named Bessie Smith?
We estimate approximately 149 people in the United States share the full name Bessie Smith. That works out to about 1 in 2,300,365 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0052%) with the surname frequency (828.19 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Bessie Smith?
We classify Bessie Smith as "Very Rare". About 1 in 2,300,365 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Bessie a male or female name?
Bessie is predominantly female. Out of 170,860 total SSA registrations, 0.4% were male and 99.6% were female. See the full Bessie profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.