Meaning & Origin
A diminutive of the female given name Teresa.
Tess is a girl's baby name of Greek origin, a short form of Teresa or Theresa, from the Greek therizo (to harvest) or possibly from the island of Thera, meaning 'harvester' or 'summer.' Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891) gave the standalone name its literary pedigree.
Over 14,650 U.S. births are recorded. Tess is one of those perfect four-letter names — complete, confident, warm, and effortlessly literary. It works at every age without ever feeling too young or too old.