Bessie is a feminine given name, often a diminutive form (hypocorism) of Elizabeth, Beatrice and other names since the 16th century. It is sometimes a name in its own right.
Notable people with the name include:
Contents
People
Bessie Abott (1878–1919), American operatic soprano
Bessie Acland (1870–1959), New Zealand painter
Bessie Anthony (1880–1912), American golfer
Bessie Anstice Baker (1849–1914), Australian writer
Bessie Bamber, British artist
Bessie Bangay (1889–1987), English church worker
Bessie Banks (actress) (1887–1969), American actress and screenwriter
Bessie Banks (born 1938), American soul singer
Bessie Bardot (born 1974), Australian businesswoman, writer, model and television host
Bessie Barriscale (1884–1965), American actress
Bessie Beatty (1886–1947), American journalist
Bessie Morse Bellingrath (1878–1943), American philanthropist
Bessie Bellwood (1856–1896), British music hall entertainer
Bessie Bennett (1870–1939), American jewelry designer and museum curator
Bessie Blomfield (1880–1984), New Zealand artist
Bessie Blount, several people
Bessie Bonehill (1855–1902), English vaudeville performer
Bessie Braddock (1899–1970), British politician
Bessie Breuer (1893–1975), American journalist
Bessie Marsh Brewer (1884–1952), Canadian printmaker, painter, sculptor and teacher
Bessie Brown (1890–1955), American singer
Bessie A. Buchanan (1902–1980), American politician
Bessie Burke (1891–1968), American teacher and principal
Bessie Buskirk (1892–1952), American actress
Bessie Callender (1889–1951), American sculptor
Bessie Carter (born 1993), English actress
Bessie Charles (c. 1869–1932), British architect
Bessie Christie (1904–1983), New Zealand painter
Bessie Clayton (1878–1948), American dancer
Bessie Olive Cole (1883–1971), American pharmacist
Bessie Coleman (1892–1926), American civil aviator
Bessie Bell Collier (1885–1969), American violinist
Bessie Boies Cotton (1880–1959), American YWCA staff member
Bessie Lee Cowie (1860–1950), Australian-New Zealand temperance campaigner, social reformer, lecturer and writer
Bessie Craigmyle (1863–1933), Scottish poet
Bessie Cursons (born 1995), British actress
Bessie Darling (1885–1933), American murder victim
Bessie Davidson (1879–1965), Australian artist
Bessie De Voie (1880–1974), American actress and dancer
Annie Elizabeth Delany (1891–1995), American civil rights pioneer
Bessie Hall Dempsey, American aeronautical engineer
Bessie Dewar (born 1980), American judge
Bessie Downes (1860–1920), botanical artist
Bessie Drysdale (1871–1950), British teacher, suffragette and birth control campaigner
Bessie Dwyer (1866–1944), American librarian
Bessie Eyton (1890–1965), American actress
Bessie Alexander Ficklen (1861–1945), American poet and artist
Bessie Flower (c. 1851–1895), Aboriginal teacher
Bessie Bartlett Frankel (1884–1959), American concert singer, composer and clubwoman
Bessie Gibson (1868–1961), Australian artist
Bessie Te Wenerau Grace (1889–1944), New Zealand teacher and education leader
Bessie Griffin (1822–1989), American gospel singer
Bessie Guthrie (1905–1977), Australian designer, publisher, feminist and campaigner
Bessie Pease Gutmann (1876–1960), American painter
Bessie Mecklem Hackenberger (1876–1942), American saxophonist
Bessie Hall (1849–1930), Canadian seafarer
Bessie Harvey (1929–1994), American sculptor
Bessie Hatton (1867–1964), English actress and feminist
Bessie Ella Hazen, Canadian-American painter
Bessie Head (1937–1986), South African writer
Bessie Bradwell Helmer (1858–1927), American lawyer, editor and publisher
Bessie Abramowitz Hillman (1889–1970), American labor organizer
Bessie Hocken (1848–1933), New Zealand artist and translator
Bessie Holland, Australian actress
Bessilyn Johnson (1871–1943), wife of Chicago millionaire Albert Johnson
Elizabeth Jones, several people
Bessie B. Kanouse (1889–1969), American mycologist
Bessie Mae Kelley, American animator
Bessie Learn (1888–1987), American actress
Bessie Lee (1924–2016), Chinese-Canadian community organizer
Bessie Locke (1865–1952), American educator
Bessie Loo (1902–1998), American actress and talent agent
Bessie Love (1898–1986), American-British actress
Bessie Margolin (1909–1996), American lawyer
Bessie Niemeyer Marshall, American artist
Bessie Lee Mauldin (1920–1983), American musician
Bessie Maxwell (1871–1946), American journalist
Bessie S. McColgin (1875–1972), American politician
Bessie McCoy (1888–1931), Irish-American singer
Bessie Brown Mention (1873–1946), American suffragist and activist
Betty Mitchell (theatre director) (1896–1976), Canadian theatre director and educator
Bessie Moody-Lawrence (1941–2012), American politician
Diamond Bessie (1854–1877), American murder victim
Bessie Boehm Moore (1902–1995), American educator
Bessie Morse (1869–1948), American educator
Bessie Moses, American gynecologist and obstetrician
Bessie I. Murray, American politician
Bessie Rayner Parkes (1829–1925), English feminist, women's rights activist, poet, essayist and journalist
Bessie Louise Pierce (1886–1974), American historian
Bessie Pocock (1863–1946), Australian nursing sister and army matron
Bessie Gardner du Pont (1864–1949), American historian
Bessie Leach Priddy (1871–1935), educator, social reformer and leader of the Delta Delta Delta women's fraternity
Bessie Pullen-Burry (1858–1937), British novelist, explorer and suffragist
Bessie Raiche (1875–1932), American dentist, physician, and America's first female aviator
Bessie Bown Ricker (1872–1953), American performer
Bessie Rischbieth (1874–1967), Australian feminist and social activist
Bessie Schonberg (1906–1997), German-born dancer, choreographer and teacher
Bessie Skea (1923–1996), Scottish writer and poet
Bessie Smith (1894–1937), American blues singer
Bessie Mae Smith, American blues singer
Bessie Anderson Stanley (1879–1952), American writer
Bessie Staples, English badminton player
Bessie Starkman (1890–1930), Jewish-Canadian gangster
Bessie Stillman (1871–1947), educator and contributor
Bessie Stockard, American tennis player
Bessie Stringfield (1911–1993), American motorcyclist
Bessie Sudlow (1849–1928), British singer and entertainer
Bessie Taylor (1896–1974), American politician
Bessie Thomashefsky (1873–1962), American actress
Bessie Toner (1885–1951), American actress
Bessie Tucker (c. 1906–1933), American blues singer
Bessie Turner, British singer-songwriter
Bessie Van Vorst (1873–1928), American author and journalist
Bessie Potter Vonnoh (1872–1955), American sculptor
Bessie Watson (1900–1992), Scottish child suffragette
Bessie Wentworth (1873–1901), English entertainer
Bessie Williamson (1910–1982), Scottish distillery owner
Bessie Wynn (1876–1968), American actress and singer
Bessie Woodson Yancey (1882–1958), African-American poet
Bessie (South African queen), South African traditional aristocrat
Fictional characters
Bessie Higgenbottom, a character in the TV animated series The Mighty B!
Elizabeth Bessie Potter, a character on the TV series Dawson's Creek
Bessie, a road paving machine in the 2006 animated film Cars
Bessie Limpet, a character in the 1964 film The Incredible Mr. Limpet
Bessie Busybody, a character in the TV series LazyTown
Bessie, a car in the TV series Doctor Who
Bessie Blithesome, a character from the 1902 L. Frank Baum book The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus