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Tess as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Tess

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The baby name Tess is a Female name , 1 syllables long and is pronounced /tɛs/.

Tess is English, Latin in Origin.

Gender: Female
Syllables: 1.0
Origin: English, Latin
Pronunciation: /tɛs/

What is the meaning of the name Tess ?

The baby name Tess is a Female name , 1 syllables long and is pronounced /tɛs/.

Tess is English, Latin in Origin.

Tess is an English short form of Theresa/Teresa, a name of Greek-Latin pedigree. The ultimate root is uncertain: it may reflect the Aegean place-name Therasia (linked to the island of Thera/Santorini) or derive from Greek theros “summer” and therizein “to harvest.” Accordingly, Tess is commonly glossed as “harvester” or, by extension, “summer.”

As a pet name in Britain, Tess appears in 18th–19th‑century records and gained broad literary visibility through Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891), whose heroine is Teresa “Tess” Durbeyfield. In the 20th century it left the nickname realm to stand alone, especially in English-speaking countries. Close variants include Tessa (a slightly longer diminutive), and the root forms Teresa/Theresa; international cognates range from Spanish and Portuguese Teresa and Italian Teresa to French Thérèse and German Therese, with Czech Tereza and Polish Teresa. Nickname relatives include Terri/Terry and Resa.

Tess has the following similar or variant Names

Tess – Popularity by country

Based on birth registration data from national statistics agencies.

Country Gender Year Rank Born of
Ireland Girls 2025 #1 — 874
BN 0 #31 2 2,297
MT 0 #43 1 1,767
MO 0 #50 3 2,706
CY 0 #60 1 1,632
LU 0 #65 2 2,830
PH 0 #66 31 5,607
CN 0 #84 3 3,857
JM 0 #92 2 3,714
TW 0 #96 8 4,523
QA 0 #101 6 7,011
PH Girls 0 #104 380 13,098
BN Girls 0 #109 6 5,459
KW 0 #118 4 5,216
OM 0 #119 3 6,215
CY Girls 0 #122 4 3,755
EE Boys 0 #125 1 2,087
Switzerland Girls 2024 #127 9 1,786
GR 0 #134 2 3,911
MU 0 #137 1 3,613
MT Girls 0 #149 5 3,773
Belgium Girls 2024 #151 35 424
BW Boys 0 #153 2 4,685
CR 0 #165 1 5,526
Sweden Girls 2022 #174 6 1,568
CZ 0 #178 9 3,154
AE 0 #179 9 10,220
LU Girls 0 #182 9 4,850
LT Girls 0 #200 1 1,904
DK 0 #204 3 5,198
France Girls 2021 #208 229 3,185
MO Girls 0 #212 40 7,056
AO Girls 0 #217 1 4,575
LU Boys 0 #219 2 4,970
PS 0 #225 2 5,692
IR 0 #229 3 4,221
NA Girls 0 #232 6 7,146
JP Girls 0 #244 8 6,592
QA Girls 0 #245 72 15,378
GR Girls 0 #246 4 6,293
PT 0 #250 1 4,161
CZ Girls 0 #253 90 5,378
SG 0 #253 17 11,010
TW Girls 0 #265 12 8,139
Canada Girls 2024 #270 16 2,795
NL Girls 0 #274 1,286 5,933
SA 0 #280 16 10,560
IL 0 #282 1 6,291
NL 0 #288 104 2,481
JM Boys 0 #293 1 6,876
HR Girls 0 #294 1 3,687
CZ Boys 0 #305 1 6,530
DK Girls 0 #306 11 7,429
GH Girls 0 #315 10 6,973
MY 0 #320 11 12,352
HK 0 #327 22 8,483
CN Girls 0 #329 21 8,829
PE 0 #329 1 6,350
KZ Girls 0 #330 3 5,862
JO Girls 0 #333 7 7,570
OM Girls 0 #334 63 15,987
MU Girls 0 #355 8 8,539
PL Girls 0 #357 8 5,096
SD Girls 0 #358 1 7,678
GH Boys 0 #359 3 8,138
MU Boys 0 #369 1 8,477
KW Girls 0 #380 136 19,177
YE 0 #397 2 8,639
BD Girls 0 #404 3 8,413
PH Boys 0 #406 3 11,440
EG 0 #412 1 6,387
SG Girls 0 #418 171 18,916
ZA 0 #420 28 14,421
HK Girls 0 #423 196 16,104
AE Girls 0 #427 127 20,968
MX 0 #441 5 8,339
IR Girls 0 #448 83 8,334
SD Boys 0 #462 5 10,523
PT Girls 0 #465 7 7,952
RU Girls 0 #478 21 11,913
PS Girls 0 #499 25 10,981
BH 0 #510 44 17,937
CR Girls 0 #517 16 11,342
PA Girls 0 #518 1 9,861
IQ Girls 0 #522 4 11,303
RU Boys 0 #523 4 12,621
PS Boys 0 #555 7 10,655
HK Boys 0 #557 1 12,905
LY 0 #558 2 12,703
CM Girls 0 #560 1 11,671
IR Boys 0 #565 1 10,162
CM Boys 0 #574 2 12,054
IL Girls 0 #594 24 11,648
IL Boys 0 #619 7 10,983
AR Girls 0 #629 2 8,289
SA Girls 0 #648 289 25,931
BO Girls 0 #651 1 9,488
IN Girls 0 #653 2 13,121
LB 0 #686 5 13,263
IQ Boys 0 #697 1 13,071
IT 0 #699 16 4,183
Finland Girls 2026 #719 20 3,895
NG Girls 0 #735 52 15,093
SG Boys 0 #737 3 17,960
QA Boys 0 #743 1 18,093
SY 0 #767 1 11,684
Germany Girls 0 #793 46 4,949
KW Boys 0 #803 4 18,755
United States Girls 2024 #804 113 8,487
TN 0 #820 10 13,765
Spain Girls 0 #905 79 5,561
CL Girls 0 #913 3 14,098
OM Boys 0 #916 3 17,948
EG Boys 0 #924 2 15,035
PE Boys 0 #924 3 14,506
ZA Girls 0 #933 209 25,928
PE Girls 0 #934 10 14,861
MY Girls 0 #936 59 24,821
NL Boys 0 #942 10 5,873
EG Girls 0 #947 13 14,742
CO Boys 0 #981 1 15,656
BR Girls 0 #991 2 12,708
NG Boys 0 #999 3 16,906
MX Boys 0 #1,033 1 16,355
MA 0 #1,115 14 20,986
DZ 0 #1,131 46 20,130
MX Girls 0 #1,135 49 17,781
AE Boys 0 #1,143 1 22,615
CO Girls 0 #1,150 3 16,140
IT Girls 0 #1,158 291 9,415
ZA Boys 0 #1,168 11 25,619
MY Boys 0 #1,179 4 25,439
TR 0 #1,247 8 19,440
SA Boys 0 #1,686 6 28,008

Tess is popular in 74 countries — most recent births per country:

France
Canada
Ireland
Belgium
Flanders, Belgium

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People also ask about Tess

Tess is predominantly a girl's name.
Tess is a one syllable name, pronounced /tɛs/.
Common nicknames and spelling variations include Tessa, Tessie, Tessy, Tessia, Teresa and Theresa.
Across languages, Tess has these equivalents: Teresa (Spanish/Italian/Portuguese/Polish), Thérèse (French), Tereza (Czech/Slovak), Teréz (Hungarian), Therese (German), and 1 more.
Yes, very popular — Tess ranked #1 in Ireland in 2025, and appears in official birth registries across 9 countries.
Tess ranks highest in Ireland (#1 in 2025).
Tess's popularity is holding steady. It moved from #1 in 2015 to #1 in 2025 in Ireland.