Ressie
Feminine
Ressie is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 1,823 girls against 18 boys since 1880.
The doubled s here is not in the parent. Theresa carries one; this carries two, which closes the syllable and shortens the vowel — so the short form is not simply a piece of the longer name but a piece with an adjustment made to it, to stop the first syllable running long.
How old is the name Ressie?
Ressie first appears in US birth records in 1881 — 144 years ago. The typical Ressie alive today was born around 1920, making them about 105 years old. About 300 people named Ressie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ressie most popular?
Ressie peaked in 1903, reaching #558 nationally. See the whole 1903 chart.
Where it comes from
From Theresa to Ressie
The story of Ressie
That is the general problem with short forms in a birth record. A register captures the name a child was given, and if the family gave the short one the longer one never appears anywhere — so a name like this arrives with its ancestry already deleted. Theresa, Clarissa, Nerissa and Odessa all shorten to it, and any of them could be behind any given bearer. Genealogists run into this constantly: the further back the record, the more likely it is to hold the name people actually used rather than the name that would tell you anything.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Four different names could produce this and they mean different things. The record preserves only the short form, which is precisely the part that carries no information about where it came from.
How the name formed
- Theresa
- Ressie
Pronouncing Ressie
RESS-ee
Two syllables with the stress at the front and a short first vowel, which the doubled consonant secures.
Nicknames for Ressie
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1881
- Most girls named
- 192359 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #558reached in 1903
- Change vs 1971
- −16.7%5 in 1981, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Ressies among us
people named Ressie are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Ressie sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is short, warm and completely easy to say on first hearing.
- The doubled letter is doing genuine phonic work.
- It works across the sexes without straining for it.
- No meaning can be given, because the parent name was never recorded.
- The spelling is recorded for a few boys, but nearly every child with it is a girl.
- The generation that used it is now very old.
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Ressie
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Ressies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Ressie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ressie in 2025?
- Ressie is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Ressie with classmates?
- Ressie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More R names
The most-given names starting with R, all years combined.
Ruth#173 · Rebecca#349 · Rachel#250 · Rose#114 · Ruby#64 · Robin#704 · Rita#1285 · Rhonda#6116
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ressie? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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