Given name & surname
Ness
“from the headland”
Ness is used as a given name and a surname. One Scottish interpretation is “from the headland.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Scottish interpretation is “from the headland.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Scottish.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2004. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Ness through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 104
- 96 boys · 8 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 16 babies
- 2025
- 16
- #9,454 for boys · #11,635 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +5%
- Steady
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 8 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 9,454 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 14.0% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 13 in 2018. It also appeared in 8 birth records for girls in 2025. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 235 as a first name in 2020; 10,195 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Ness’s family of names
In English usage, Ness as a surname shares a linguistic root with the German form NASS. Ness has a related form in Nessie. Ness has a related form in Nesse.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Ness has relatives in 3 languages.
5 related names in 3 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 10
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Nessievariant
- Nesvariant · Norwegian Bokmål
- Næssvariant · Norwegian Bokmål
- Nesseavariant
- Nesseevariant
- Nesseyvariant
- Nessyvariant
- Nessivariant
Show 2 moreShow fewer
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Ness
Characters named Ness: Ness (fictional character and the protagonist of EarthBound (Mother 2)).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Ness, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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“of the rough waters or stream”
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