# Bess (name)

Bess is both a surname and a feminine given name, usually the shortened form (hypocorism) of Elizabeth. Notable people with the name include:

## 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
* Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (1759–1824), early female novelist
* Bess Streeter Aldrich (1881–1954), American author
* Bess Armstrong (born 1953), American actress
* 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 Larkin Housser Harris (1890–1969), Canadian painter
* Bess Lomax Hawes (1921–2009), American folk musician, folklorist, and researcher
* 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 Johnson (c. 1902 – 1975), American actress
* 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 Price (born 1960), Aboriginal Australian activist and politician
* Elizabeth Raleigh (1565–1647), wife of Sir Walter Raleigh
* Bess Rogers, American indie rock musician
* 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

## 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