Bess
Usually a pet-form surname from the female name Elizabeth, especially the nickname Bess.
The #3,677 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 31,951 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Bess is best understood as a surname formed from the medieval and early modern pet name Bess, itself a familiar short form of Elizabeth. In older English usage, a nickname or diminutive could become a hereditary surname for the children or descendants of a woman known by that name. The core sense is therefore "descendant or family of Bess," rather than a word with an independent lexical meaning.
History
The surname is tied to the long life of Bess as a nickname for Elizabeth, a form that became especially familiar in the Tudor period. Historical surname writers treated it as one of several surnames created from women’s personal names, and Bardsley specifically notes the popularity of Bess as a pet name. Modern bearers are likely to have inherited the name through a local or family nickname tradition rather than from a single occupational or place-name source.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
"Queen Bess" was a famous nickname for Queen Elizabeth I, and that prestige helped keep Bess and its variants lively in English naming.
From the historical record
“Amuse me at my spinning-wheel. — I Burns, ' Bess,' 23-4. (Celt.) the Irish Siadhail, a nickname = Sloth ! [Ir. siadhail, sloth, sluggishness] SHIELD (Eng.) i Dweller at the sign of the”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)