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 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
See also Bess (name)