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SHARED SPELLING

✦ Two distinct US naming histories

Bess

Used in both girl and boy records

Bess appears in both girl and boy US naming records. Compare the two independent popularity histories, ranks, and peak years.

Choose a record

Bess by gender

Each record below preserves the original rank, use count, active years, and peak year for that gender. The spelling is shared; the data histories are not combined.

GIRL RECORDBess as a girl’s nameUS records 1880–2022
#1637girl rank1889peak year
Read girl record ↗BOY RECORDBess as a boy’s nameUS records 1894–1894
#34256boy rank1894peak year
Read boy record ↗

Popularity ledger

Girl and boy use over time

GirlBoy

Trace the annual recorded uses of Bess in the national name files. Hover a peak marker, move across the chart, or use the arrow keys to inspect an exact annual count and rank.

At a glance

RecordPeak yearHighest rankObserved usage
Girl1889182 uses#15718871880–2020140 listed years
Boy18945 uses#107418941894–18941 listed years

Annual counts and within-year ranks from the SSA national-name archive, 1880–2020. Names with fewer than five births in a year are not listed in the source files.