Explore the Family Name Besse

The meaning of Besse

French: topographic name for someone who lived by a birch tree or in a birch wood, from Occitan bès ‘birch tree’, or a habitational name from (La) Besse, the name of several places mainly in southern France, named from the same word (ultimately from Gaulish betu).

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Besse in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Besse fluctuated slightly between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Besse ranked as the 17,755th most popular surname in the United States, falling to 18,474th by 2010—a slight decrease of roughly 4%. However, the total count of individuals with this surname increased from 1,455 to 1,497 during the same period. Despite this increase, the proportion of people with this surname per 100,000 U.S. residents decreased by about 5.56%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#17,755	#18,474	-4.05%
Count	1,455	1,497	2.89%
Proportion per 100k	0.54	0.51	-5.56%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Besse

In terms of ethnic identity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows a few changes in the distribution among those with the Besse surname between 2000 and 2010. While the majority of individuals identified as White (92.16% in 2000 and 89.58% in 2010), there were small increases among individuals identifying as part of two or more races, Hispanic, and Black populations, with relative increases of 20.35%, 21.96%, and 18.55% respectively. The Asian/Pacific Islander category also saw a new inclusion in 2010, registering at 1.80%, as did the category for American Indian and Alaskan Native with an addition of 0.47%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	92.16%	89.58%	-2.8%
Hispanic	3.78%	4.61%	21.96%
Two or More Races	1.72%	2.07%	20.35%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	1.8%	0%
Black	1.24%	1.47%	18.55%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0.47%	0%