Comments (Meaning / History Only)

Historically, Tess was also used as a diminutive of Esther, and online you can find contemporary examples of its usage. The formation of the rhyming name (Ess/Tess for Esther) is similar, for example, to Ed/Ned/Ted for Edward.It would be interesting to discover if Tess was first associated with Esther rather than Theresa. The latter, a Catholic name, was not common in England until the Victorian era, while Esther and Hester were common since the Protestant reformation. Other English nicknames had similar histories, notably Jenny (Jane and later Jennifer).
My full name is Tess (not short for anything), but my mom told me that she named me Tess after all of the older Jewish women in her neighborhood who went by "Tess" and "Tessie." Theresa/Therese is a Christian name, but some Jews are named Tess as a short form of Esther.

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