Tess is a feminine given name, typically a diminutive form of

Theresa Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; ) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Classical Greek, Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or rea ...

or Tessa. It is occasionally a diminutive form of

Esther Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...

or Hester.

People

* Tess Amorim (born 1994), Brazilian actress * Tess Annique, American model * Tess Broussard (born 1972), American model and actress *

Tess Daly Helen Elizabeth "Tess" Daly (born 29 March 1969) is an English television presenter and former model. Since 2004, she has co-presented the BBC One dancing competition show '' Strictly Come Dancing''. Early life Helen Elizabeth Daly was born o ...

(born 1969), British television presenter * Tess Frazer, American actress * Tess Gaerthé (born 1991), Dutch singer * Tess Gallagher (born 1943), American writer * Tess Gardella (1894–1950), American actress and vaudeville performer *

Tess Gerritsen Tess Gerritsen (born Terry Tom; June 12, 1953) is the pseudonym of Terry Gerritsen, an American novelist and retired general physician. Early life Tess Gerritsen is the child of a Chinese immigrant and a Chinese-American seafood chef. While grow ...

(born 1953), American novelist * Tess Harper (born 1950), American actress * Tess Haubrich (born 1990), Australian actress *

Tess Henley Tess Henley is an American singer-songwriter and pianist from Kent, Washington, United States. Born into a musical family, Henley studied and performed since childhood before launching a career performing soul music. Since 2008, she has released se ...

(born 1987), American singer-songwriter * Tess Holliday (born 1985), American model and blogger *

Tess Jaray Tess Jaray (born 1937) is a British painter and printmaker. She taught at The Slade School of Fine Art, UCL from 1968 until 1999. Over the last twenty years Jaray has completed a succession of major public art projects. She was made an Honorary ...

(born 1937), British painter and printmaker * Tess Joffroy (born 1994), Réunionese singer-songwriter * Tess Kingham (born 1963), British politician and one-term Member of Parliament * Tess Lambe, Irish vaccine development scientist * Tess Ledeux (born 2001), French freestyle skier * Tess Mattisson (born 1978), Swedish singer * Tess Merkel (born 1970), Swedish singer * Tess Oliveira (born 1987), Brazilian water polo goalkeeper * Tess Olofsson (born 1988), Swedish football referee * Tess Rafferty, American writer, comedian, and actress * Tess Richey (1994–2017), Canadian murder victim *

Tess Rothschild Teresa Georgina "Tess" Rothschild, Baroness Rothschild, (''née'' Mayor; 10 September 1915 – 29 May 1996) was a British counter-intelligence officer and magistrate. She was the second wife of Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild. Early l ...

(1915–1996), British counter-intelligence officer and magistrate * Tess Routliffe (born 1998), Canadian Paralympic swimmer * Tess Taylor (born 1972), American poet, academic, and CNN contributor * Tess Wiley (born 1974), American singer-songwriter

Fictional characters

Film

* Tess Skeffington, in ''Murder By Death'', played by Eileen Brennan * Tess Carlisle, in ''Guarding Tess'', played by Shirley MacLaine * Tess Carroll, in ''Charlie St. Cloud'', played by Amanda Crew * Tess Coleman, in ''Freaky Friday'', played by Jamie Lee Curtis * Tess Durbeyfield/D'Urberville, in ''Tess'', based on Thomas Hardy's novel, played by Nastassja Kinski * Tess Finnegan, in ''Fool's Gold'' (2008), played by Kate Hudson * Tess Harding, in ''Woman of the Year'', played by Katharine Hepburn * Tess McGill, in ''Working Girl'', played by Melanie Griffith * Tess Nichols, in ''27 Dresses'', played by Malin Åkerman * Tess Ocean, in ''Ocean's Eleven'' (2001) and the sequel ''Ocean's Twelve'', played by Julia Roberts * Tess Tyler, in the television movie ''Camp Rock'' and ''Billboard Dad'', played by Meaghan Jette Martin * Tess Scali, in ''

Burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

'', played by Cher

Television

* Tess Adamson, on the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Street'' * Tess Bateman, on the British medical drama ''Casualty'', played by Suzanne Packer * Teresa Bell, on the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'' * Tess Doerner, on the American science fiction series ''The 4400'', played by Summer Glau * Tess Fontana, on the American series ''Eureka'' * Tess Foster, protagonist of the Canadian sitcom '' Life with Boys'' * Tess Harding, on the series ''Roswell'', played by Emilie de Ravin * Tess Silverman McLeod, on the Australian series ''McLeod's Daughters'', played by Bridie Carter * Tess Mercer, on the American series ''Smallville'' * Tess O’Malley, on the Disney Channel series '' Raven's Home'' * Tess Ramsey, on the American soap opera ''Port Charles'', played by Kelly Monaco * Tess Smith, an alternate personality of the character Jessica Buchanan on the American soap opera ''One Life to Live'', played by Bree Williamson * Tess, on the television series ''

Touched by an Angel ''Touched by an Angel'' is an American drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994, and ran for 211 episodes over nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and executive produced by Ma ...

'', played by Della Reese

Books and comics

* Tess Durbeyfield/D'Urberville, in the novel ''Tess of the D'Urbervilles'' by Thomas Hardy * Tess Clark, in Chuck Palahniuk's novel ''Haunted'' * Tess Trueheart, in the ''Dick Tracy'' comic strip series * Tess Turbo, in the ''

Bloom County ''Bloom County'' is an American comic strip by Berkeley Breathed which originally ran from December 8, 1980, until August 6, 1989. It examined events in politics and culture through the viewpoint of a fanciful small town in Middle America, whe ...

'' comic strip

Video games

* Theresa "Tess" Servopoulos, in the game ''

The Last of Us ''The Last of Us'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across a post-apocalyptic United States ...

'' * Tess Wintory, in the game '' Test Drive Unlimited 2'' * Tess Everis, in the game ''

Destiny (video game) ''Destiny'' is an Online game, online first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie. It was released worldwide on September 9, 2014, for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One consoles. ''Destiny'' marked Bungie's first ...

'' * Tess Greymane, in the game ''