How Many People Are Named Bessie?
An estimated 17,942 people in the United States have the first name Bessie. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 76 years old, and Bessie peaked in popularity in 1916 with 4,132 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Bessie as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Bessie paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Bessie is overwhelmingly female, 737 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- With an average bearer age of 76, Bessie is a vintage name most associated with earlier generations. Most living bearers were born before 1960.
- Bessie has fallen dramatically from its peak in the 1910s. Recent registrations are less than 5% of what they were at the name's height.
Estimated Living Americans
17,942
About 1 in 19,103 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
99.6% confidence
Average Age
76
years old
Peak Year
1916
4,132 births
Total Registered
170,860
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Bessie
Bessie is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 170,860 total births registered, 99.6% were female.
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)
Bessie: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Bessie span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1910s, when 33,991 babies were registered. Bessie has declined significantly from its peak in the 1910s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Bessie by Decade
How has Bessie tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 15,431 | 58 | 15,373 | |
| 1890s | 24,491 | 74 | 24,417 | |
| 1900s | 24,077 | 93 | 23,984 | |
| 1910s | 33,991 | 132 | 33,859 | |
| 1920s | 32,347 | 189 | 32,158 | |
| 1930s | 18,182 | 147 | 18,035 | |
| 1940s | 11,101 | 39 | 11,062 | |
| 1950s | 5,947 | 5 | 5,942 | |
| 1960s | 2,592 | 0 | 2,592 | |
| 1970s | 1,206 | 0 | 1,206 | |
| 1980s | 749 | 0 | 749 | |
| 1990s | 386 | 0 | 386 | |
| 2000s | 180 | 0 | 180 | |
| 2010s | 109 | 0 | 109 | |
| 2020s | 71 | 0 | 71 | |
Bessie by State
Birth registrations for Bessie span all 50 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia. The lowest are in Alaska, Rhode Island, Vermont. On average, about 2,060 Bessies were registered per state.
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.
Names Similar to Bessie
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
Bessie: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bessie?
We estimate approximately 17,942 people named Bessie are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 19,103 Americans share this first name.
Is Bessie a common name?
Bessie is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 170,860 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Bessie most popular?
Bessie reached peak popularity in 1916, when 4,132 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Bessie is approximately 76 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Bessie a female name?
Bessie is predominantly female. 99.6% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Bessie Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Bessie Smith, Bessie Johnson, Bessie Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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