girl's name
Tess
TESS
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 1
- Letters 4
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 27,721
Ireland
#150
2025 births
Tess is a girl's name of Greek origin, a short form of Theresa whose meaning has never been established despite centuries of attempts. It ranks 150th in Ireland and 520th in France, and it is falling.
- Tess is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1992, when 529 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 29,340 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1889.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Tess over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 6 |
| 1890s | 38 |
| 1900s | 83 |
| 1910s | 155 |
| 1920s | 128 |
| 1930s | 37 |
| 1940s | 46 |
| 1950s | 89 |
| 1960s | 361 |
| 1970s | 423 |
| 1980s | 1,707 |
| 1990s | 4,559 |
| 2000s | 4,024 |
| 2010s | 2,345 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 769 |
What Tess means
Tess inherits Theresa's meaning, which is genuinely unknown. Harvester and summer have both been proposed, and a link to the Greek island of Therasia is as likely as either — none of them can be shown.
Where Tess comes from
Tess is a short form of Theresa, whose derivation is unresolved. The commonly printed harvester rests on theros, summer or harvest, and a connection to Therasia near Santorini is equally possible; the name's earliest recorded bearer, Therasia, was a fourth-century Spanish woman, which does nothing to settle it. Teresa of Ávila and Thérèse of Lisieux carried it into every Catholic country. Tess's literary weight is Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles in 1891, whose heroine is seduced, bears a child who dies, is abandoned by her husband and hanged for murder — a novel that attacked Victorian sexual morality directly enough that magazines refused to serialize it whole. The name has largely escaped that association.
Tess in use
Tess ranks 150th in Ireland with 31 births in 2025 and 520th in France with 90 births, which is unexpected reach for an English short form. It is falling in our data from a peak in 1992, and our records carry it from 1889. It appears in every market we hold, and the fuller Theresa and Tessa are counted separately.
How popular is Tess?
In 2025, Tess was given to 113 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Tess is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Tess
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Tess also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Tess over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Tess in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Tess
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Tess — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Tess
What does the name Tess mean?
It inherits Theresa's meaning, which is unknown. Harvester and summer are proposals, not derivations.
Is Tess short for Theresa?
Yes, and it has been registered as a name in its own right since the nineteenth century.
Is Tess a literary name?
Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles in 1891 is its best-known bearer, though the name has outrun the association.
How popular is Tess?
150th in Ireland and 520th in France.
Is Tess a girl's or a boy's name?
Tess is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Tess?
Tess has 1 syllable.
Is Tess a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Tess currently ranks #150 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.