Bessie
2025 SSA
About Bessie
After a century of association with horses and cows, this name just could be ready for revival by a fearless baby namer -- after all, it did happen to Jessie and Becky.
Bessie has been in use since the seventeenth century and is found as characters in Jane Eyre and in Sean O'Casey's play The Plough and the Stars. More recently, she was an animated automotive character in the movie Cars.
On the popularity lists until 1975, Bessie was a Top 25 name from 1880 to 1906, reaching Number 9 in 1889. Notable namesakes include the great blues singer Bessie Smith, and Bessie Coleman, the first African-American female aviator.
And if you want to go more refined, you could simplify to Bess.
Pronounced BES-ee.
As of October 2026, Bessie ranked #6889 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #9 in 1889.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | — | 0 | 0 |
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Bessie.
- Bess
- Mamie
- Franny
- Wilma
- Shirley
- Gladys
- Francie
- Betsy
- Tavie
- Peggy
- Georgienne
- Norma
- Jeanie
- Gretchen
- Meg
- Velma
- Susie
- Johanne
- Joanie
- Edna
Bessie on lists
Famous Bessies
- Bessie Smith
American jazz singer
- (Bessie) Wallis Warfield Simpson
Duchess of Windsor, American socialite; wife of Britain's King Edward VIII
- Bessie Love (born Juanita Horton)
American silent film actress
- Bessie Barriscale (born Elizabeth Barry Scale)
American stage and silent film actress
- Bessie Coleman
American aviatrix
- Elizabeth Margaret "Bessie" Braddock
English MP for Liverpool
- Bessie Amelia Emery Head
Botswanian writer
- Bessie Potter Vonnoh
American sculptor
- Bessie Banks
American soul singer
- Bessie Carter
English actress
- (Bessie) Lillian Gordy Carter
mother of U.S. President Jimmy Carter
Bessie in pop culture
- Bessie
character in The Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton
- Bessie Busybody
character from the TV show "Lazy Town"
- Bessie
Mrs. Forrester's cow in Cranford
- Bessie Clavell
character in "The Sims 3" computer game