Tess

Did you know?

A few things about Tess you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Tess

Tess Gerritsen

American novelist

Choose Tess and your child shares a first name with Tess Gerritsen, an American novelist. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Tess, like who?” Tess Gerritsen's Wikipedia article is available in 27 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Tess Gerritsen on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: TessGerritsen.jpg: Jacob Gerritsen, CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 14,225 baby girls born in the US in 2025 was named Tess, 113 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Tess would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryTess first shows up in US birth records in 1889, the first year at least 5 babies got it. It has been in use for 136 years since.
• 🏆Best yearIt was far more popular in 1992, when it ranked #465. Today it's #1,777, so it could be due a comeback.
• 📉Then vs nowTess was 3.7× more common in 2000 than it is today. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 3,823 baby girls; in 2025, about 1 in 14,225.
• 🍂TrendTess has slipped 501 places over the last five years and now sits at #1,777. Good news if you want a familiar name that fewer kids will share.
• 📍Where it's lovedTess is most popular in Massachusetts, where it ranks #624, followed by Wisconsin (#700) and Utah (#704). It's in the top 1,000 in 3 states.

About the name Tess

Tess is a girl name. It has 4 letters and 1 syllable, starting with T and ending in “-ess”. US birth records list Tess for girls from 1889 to 2025, in 123 of those 137 years. Its best year was 1992, when it ranked #465 among girl names. In 2025 it ranked #1,777, with 113 babies.