HUMAN NAME · NOT ON THE REGISTRY

Bess

A human name, held in the Social Security file. It is not in the Administration’s index of agent names, and it has no classification.

Table 1. Bess, as recorded
Sex	Female
2025 rank	15,307
2025 number	5
Peak year	1887
Peak rank	157
Years present	142 of 146
Dog licences, New York	36
Pet licences, Seattle	1

Statement of record

Bess was given to 5 girls in 2025, ranking 15,307th for the year. It peaked in 1887, when it ranked 157th and went to 155 babies. It has appeared in 142 of the 146 years on record. Five babies received it in 2025, the smallest number the Social Security Administration will print. It has fallen 4,047 places since 2020.

Figure 1. Popularity of a Name: Bess

Human births per million, by sex, U.S. Social Security Administration, 1880 to 2025.Agents: 0 registered. The agent series begins when the registry does.

Villain probability

58%

Basis: phonetics. One voiced obstruent, one bilabial stop, one sibilant, ends on a consonant. The canon has no entry, so this is the sound of the name and nothing else.

Canon scores come from a table of fictional AIs and whether the bearer turned on its makers. Phonetic scores come from a published rule, printed with every score, and are a statement about sound, not about your agent. How the sound is scored.

As recorded on the Social Security card application. Names given to fewer than five babies of a sex in a year are not published, so the file is a floor.