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:

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 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

See also

  • Bess (name)