How popular is the baby name Bess in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Bess.

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Popularity of the baby name Bess


Posts that mention the name Bess

Name needed: What do you think about Lachlan?

Here’s a question from Bess about the name Lachlan:

I found the name Lachlan in a list of popular names in Australia. I live in the southeastern US. I like the name, but some people have had negative reactions to it. My husband seems to think it is a name you give a kid if you are trying to make them sound cool. What do you think? We are thinking of the middle name Allen.

I like the name Lachlan, but I can understand what your husband is saying.

Would the baby have any extra connection to the name? For instance, Scottish (or Norwegian) heritage? Relatives or ancestors with the name? Do you or your husband have any favorite book or movie characters named Lachlan, or some link to Australia?

Without some sort of personal significance, the name is simply a name off a list…and likely is being chosen because it sounds cool. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. But a meaningful association is the very thing that would take the name from “cool-sounding” to something deeper.

(Ironically, I’ve been getting quite a few e-mails about the name Lachlan lately. This leads me to believe that people are becoming quite interested in the name…and will perhaps start using it more often. So, while Lachlan is unique right now, in the coming years it may become trendy, and, hence, not as cool-sounding.)

What other reasons are people giving for disliking the name? (Same as your husband? Or, are they having trouble with the pronunciation, maybe?)

Beyond that…I do like Allen as a middle. I think “Lachlan Allen” is a really nice-sounding combination.

What does everyone else think about Lachlan?

One-syllable girl names: Kate, Sage, Wren, Maeve

single tree

Looking for a girl name that’s short and to-the-point? Something that might work particularly well as a middle name?

Check out this list of several hundred one-syllable girl names:

  • Anne/Ann, Ash/Ashe, Ayn
  • Banks/Banx, Bar, Bea, Belle/Bell, Bess, Beth, Bjork, Blair/Blaire, Blaise/Blaze/Blayze/Blaize, Blake/Blayke, Blanche, Bless, Blessed, Bliss/Blyss, Bloom, Blue/Blu, Blythe, Brave, Bray, Breck, Bree/Brie, Breeze/Brees, Brett, Bright, Britt, Bronx, Bronze, Brooke/Brook, Bryce/Brice, Brynn/Bryn/Brynne/Brin/Brinn, Burke
  • Cache, Cass, Cate/Cait, Chance, Charm, Chase, Chen, Cher, Chris, Claire/Clare/Clair, Clark/Clarke, Cloud, Clove, Coast, Cove, Cree, Cruz
  • Dale, Dare, Dash, Dawn, Deah, Dee, Deem, Del/Dell, Doll, Dor, Dove, Dream, Drew/Dru
  • Earth, Elle, Eve
  • Fair/Fayre, Faith/Fayth, Fawn/Faun, Fate, Faye/Fay/Fae, Fern/Ferne, Flame, Fleur, Flor, Flynn, Fran
  • Gail/Gayle/Gale, Gal, Gay/Gaye, Gem, Gift, Gold, Grace/Grayce, Gray/Grey, Greer, Gwen, Gwyn/Gwynn/Gwynne
  • Hayes/Haze, Hayle, Heart/Hart, Hope
  • Jace/Jayce, Jade/Jayde/Jaide, Jan, Jane/Jayne, Jaye/Jae, Jazz/Jaz, Jean/Jeanne, Jem, Jen/Jenn, Jess, Jett, Jewel, Jill, Jin/Jyn, Jo, Joan, Joss, Joy/Joye/Joi/Joie, Joyce, Jude, Jules, June, Jung
  • Kai, Kate/Kayte/Kaite, Kay/Kaye/Kae, Kayce, Kayde, Kim, Klaire/Klare/Klair, Klark/Klarke, Kree, Kris, Kyle
  • Lace, Laine/Lane/Layne, Lake, Lark, Leigh/Lee, Light, Liv, Liz, Love, Lux, Luce, Luz, Lynn/Lynne/Lyn/Lin
  • Mae/May, Madge, Maeve/Maebh/Mave, Mai, March, Marge/Marj, Maude/Maud, Maze/Maize/Mayze, Mills, Mirth, Moon
  • Nash, Naz, Nelle/Nell, Neve/Niamh, Nile, Noire/Noir, Noor/Nour, North
  • Paige/Payge/Page, Pam, Pax, Paz, Peace, Peach, Pearl/Perl, Plum, Praise, Prayer, Prim, Psalm, Psalms, Prue, Pure
  • Queen, Quinn
  • Rae/Raye, Rayne/Rain/Raine/Rainn/Reign, Reece/Reese/Rhys, Reem, Reet, Reeve, Rell, Ren, Rise, Rogue, Rome, Rose, Rue, Rune, Rut, Ruth, Ryn/Rin
  • Saint, Sage/Saige/Sayge/Saje, Scout, Shane/Shayne, Shea/Shae/Shay/Shaye, Shine, Silk, Shir, Skye/Sky, Sloane/Sloan, Snow, Sol, Soul, Star/Starr, Storm, Sue/Sioux, Swan, Sway
  • Tai, Taj, Tate, Teal, Tess, Thyme, Tris, Trish, True/Tru, Trust, Truth, Tyne
  • Vail/Vale, Val, Vaughn
  • Wing, Wren/Wrenn, Wryn, Wynn/Wynne/Winn
  • Yaz, Yen
  • Zane/Zain/Zayne, Zeal, Zell, Zen

Please note that I did include names in the gray area between one syllable and two syllables. The deciding factor on these particular names will be your own interpretation/accent, so be sure to test the names out loud before making any final decisions. (“Hayle,” for instance — would you say it like Hale, or like Hailey? Or “Rise” — is it rize, or ree-sah?)

Many of these names also happen to be unisex, so they appear on the one-syllable boy names list as well.

What’s your favorite one-syllable girl name?

Image: Adapted from 1 Drvo 06241 by Olja Simovic under CC BY-SA 4.0.

[Latest update: July 2023]

Baby names you can type with one hand: Carter, Tessa, John, Poppy

computer keyboard

When you sign your first name, you use one hand. But when you type it, chances are you need to use both hands — even if your name is a short as Emma, Gus or Ty.

Have you ever wondered which names can be touch-typed on the standard QWERTY keyboard with one hand only? Me too, so I came up with some lists…

Left-handed baby names

  • Ace, Ada, Adeva, Aeta, Afra, Aqsa, Ara, Arda, Ardra, Artra, Asa, Astra, Astraea, Astrea, Atef, Ava, Awa, Aza, Azeeza, Azza
  • Babette, Barbara, Barrett, Baxter, Bess, Bette, Brad, Brett
  • Cade, Caesar, Cara, Carter, Casara, Case, Cass, Cedar, Ceres, Cesar, Cresta
  • Dara, Dasza, Dave, Dawes, Dax, Deatra, Debra, Dee, Dessa, Dexter, Drew
  • Ece, Ed, Edgar, Edward, Eevee, Efe, Egas, Erva, Esta, Estes, Etta, Eva, Eve, Everard, Everett, Evette, Eze, Ezra
  • Fedde, Freeda, Fred, Fredda
  • Gage, Garret, Garrett, Gerard, Grace, Greg, Greta, Grete, Gretta
  • Rafer, Rava, Rebeca, Rebecca, Reece, Reed, Reese, Retta, Reva, Rever, Rewa, Rex
  • Sabra, Sade, Safaa, Sagar, Sage, Sara, Saras, Sardar, Stassa, Steve, Stewart, Svea, Sverre, Sveva
  • Tad, Tage, Taggart, Ted, Tara, Tate, Tera, Teresa, Tess, Tessa, Tex, Trace, Tracee, Trava
  • Vada, Varda, Varvara, Vera, Verree, Vesta, Vester
  • Wade, Wafa, Ward, Wes
  • Xerra, Xerxes
  • Zada, Zara, Zed, Zera

How funny is it that Dexter, which comes directly from the Latin word for “right,” is typed with the left hand only?

Right-handed baby names

  • Holli, Holly
  • Io
  • Jill, Ji-Min, Jim, Jimi, Jimmy, Jin, Jo, John, Johnny, Jon, Joni, Joy, Juho, Juli, Julio, Jun, Juni, Juno
  • Kiki, Kiko, Kilik, Kim, Kimi, Kimiko, Kimmy, Kimo, Kin, Kip, Kipp, Kippy, Kiyoko, Kiyomi, Kojo, Kollin, Kumiko, Kuuipo, Kyou
  • Lili, Lilly, Lilou, Lilikoi, Lily, Lin, Lino, Loki, Loni, Lonny, Lou, Lulu, Lumi, Lyn, Lynn
  • Miki, Mikki, Mikko, Milly, Milo, Mimi, Min, Minh, Minokimin, Miyu, Molly, Momoko
  • Nik, Nikhil, Niki, Nikki, Niko, Nikol, Nikon, Niilo, Nolon, Nuno
  • Olli, Olujimi, Om
  • Phil, Philip, Phillip, Philo, Pio, Pliny, Plum, Pol, Polly, Pono, Poppy
  • Umiko, Umu
  • Yoko, Yuko, Yumi, Yumiko

I realize that QWERTY “handedness” is not a major baby-naming factor for most people, but I do think it would be cute to pair a one-handed name with another one-handed name — maybe a surname (Teresa Garza, Phillip Hill) or a twin name (Edward & John, Grace & Lily, Zara & Milo). What do you think?

Image: Adapted from Apple Macintosh Plus Extended Keyboard by MagicTom13 under CC BY-SA 3.0.