Bess

Given name

Elizabeth I (1533–1603), Queen of England, also known as "Good Queen Bess"

Bess of Hardwick (1527–1608), daughter of John Hardwick of Hardwicke

Bess Abell (1933–2020), American presidential aide

Bess Streeter Aldrich (1881–1954), American author

Bess Armstrong (born 1953), American actress

Bess Atwell (born 1994), English musician

Bess Berman (1902–1968), American record label executive

Bess Bonnier (1928–2011), American jazz pianist, composer, and music educator

Bess Bukodi, British professor

Bess Phipps Dawson (1916–1994), American painter

Bess Marie Eversull (1899–1978), first woman to earn a PhD in mathematics from the University of Cincinnati

Bess Flowers (1898–1984), American actress

Bess Flynn (1886–1976), American actress and writer

Bess Freedman (born 1969), American businesswoman

Bess Furman (1894–1969), American journalist

Bess Goodykoontz (1894–1990), American educator

Bess Larkin Housser Harris (1890–1969), Canadian painter

Bess Lomax Hawes (1921–2009), American folk musician, folklorist, and researcher

Bess Heath (born 2001), English cricketer

Elizabeth Holland (died 1547/8), mistress of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk

Bess Houdini (1876–1943), stage assistant and wife of Harry Houdini

Bess Hudson (1875–1961), New Zealand nurse

Bess Johnson (c. 1902 – 1975), American actress

Bess Kalb (born 1987), American television writer

Bess Kargman, American filmmaker

Bess Keaney (born 1991), Australian rules footballer

Bess Marcus, American psychologist

Bess Meisler (born 1922), American actress

Bess Mensendieck (1864–1957), American physician and gymnastics teacher

Bess Meredyth (1890–1969), screenwriter and silent film actress

Bess Gearhart Morrison (1875–1968), American actress, educator, and speaker

Bess Motta (born 1958), American actress, singer, choreographer, and exercise demonstrator

Bess Myerson (1924–2014), first Jewish Miss America, and politician

Bess Nkabinde (born 1959), South African judge

Bess Norriss (1878–1939), Australian artist

Bess O'Brien, American film producer and director

Bess Price (born 1960), Aboriginal Australian activist and politician

Bess Rogers, American indie rock musician

Bess Rous, American actress

Bess Whitehead Scott (1890–1997), American journalist

Bess Stinson (1902–1996), American politician

Bess Taffel (1913–2000), American screenwriter

Bess Thomas (1892–1968), Australian librarian

Bess Truitt (1884–1972), Oklahoma Poet Laureate from 1945 to 1946

Bess Truman (1885–1982), wife of President Harry S. Truman

Bess Bolden Walcott (1886–1988), African-American educator, librarian, museum curator, and activist

Bess Ward, American oceanographer

Bess Wohl, American dramatist

Surname

Brandon Bess (born 1987), West Indies Test cricketer

Calvin Bess, Bishop of Trinidad and Tobago

Daniel Bess, (born 1977), American television and film actor

Davone Bess (born 1985), National Football League wide receiver

Dom Bess (born 1997), England cricketer

Georges Bess (born 1947), French comics artist

Lane Bess (born 1961), American venture capitalist

Rachel Bess (born c. 1979), American painter

Robert T. Bess (1889–after 1958), British Guiana-born American stockbroker and civil rights activist

Rufus Bess (born 1956), former National Football League cornerback

Fictional characters

Bess, in the opera Porgy and Bess

Bess, an alternate personality of Jessica Buchanan in the American soap opera One Life to Live

Bess Lindstrom, in the television series The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Bess Marvin, one of Nancy Drew's closest friends

Elizabeth "Bess" McCord, protagonist of the American drama series Madam Secretary