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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Tess or Tessa?

30 replies

Inafastspin · 20/05/2021 08:22

Exactly that, really! Which would you use? We don't like Teresa/Theresa/Therese

Thanks!

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WaitinginVain · 21/05/2021 20:21

Tess.

IamnotwhouthinkIam · 21/05/2021 20:16

Boys names with a similar feel to Tess imo (so fairly short, simple, poetic or classic feeling and not top 100)

Heath
Hugh
Owen
Evan
Tristan
Orrin
Magnus
Leif
Maxim
Ivo

Thisisjaaam · 21/05/2021 18:58

Tess!

Original poster
Inafastspin · 21/05/2021 15:49

Thanks all! This was more divisive than I expected! I love the sound of Tess - I can imagine her being whatever she wants to be with that name and it could suit her! However, my husband also thinks that Tessa gives more options. That alone doesn't seem like a great reason to go with the longer name, though maybe it would avoid 'Tessie' being used, which I'm less keen on.
Now to think of boys' names. If I like Tess (and, in general, less popular names), does anyone have any boy suggestions for me?

OP posts:
BettyUnderswoob · 21/05/2021 11:08

I prefer Tess.

ILoveShula · 21/05/2021 10:05

I prefer Tess but Tessa or Tess might sound better paired with the surname. (e.g. Tess Daley but Tessa Wiatt)

Nonameyet1 · 21/05/2021 09:48

Tess.

SoapboxFox · 21/05/2021 06:12

Tess

GreenWasabi · 21/05/2021 06:11

Tess sounds both cool and classic
Tessa is meh

DramaAlpaca · 20/05/2021 22:46

Tess is lovely.

Tessa is very dated and nothing like as nice.

IamnotwhouthinkIam · 20/05/2021 19:52

Tess for me - poetic/romantic with a kind of underused classic feel (thanks to the Hardy novel).

Tessa is okay but feels a bit less elegant to me - it neither has the traditional feel of Teresa or the simplicity of Tess, so is a bit "blah" imo.

But I similarly prefer classic Rose to Rosa, Eve to Eva, Isabel to Isabella etc and many people obviously feel differently (the only exceptions to this for me are if the simpler versions sound dated because of past overuse eg. Diana feels less dated than Diane, Julia less than Julie - but this doesn't apply to Tess as it's never been that popular).

angelaEhen · 20/05/2021 19:32

Tess

car1sberg · 20/05/2021 19:31

Absolutely love Tessa/Tess

wishing3 · 20/05/2021 19:30

Tess

Graymare · 20/05/2021 19:29

Tessa

partyatthepalace · 20/05/2021 19:27

Tessa. Tess as nn if you want.

Peachbubble · 20/05/2021 18:19

Tessa

AnyaMoondial · 20/05/2021 17:39

I prefer Tess. It’s a brilliant name.

TatianaBis · 20/05/2021 15:03

Tessa called Tess.

Serpenta · 20/05/2021 15:00

I much prefer Tess. I like the simplicity. Tessa seems more ungainly.

MerryChristmasToYou · 20/05/2021 14:35

Tess. Much nicer than Tessa.

Giraffedance · 20/05/2021 13:16

Going against the grain - I much prefer Tess, sounds stronger to me. I don't think it sounds abrupt, I think it's short and sweet. Not keen on Tessa at all.

TempsPerdu · 20/05/2021 12:28

Tessa - lovely, a bit more substantial and you still get to use Tess/Tessie as a nn.

kmini · 20/05/2021 11:26

I have a Tess and I still absolutely love her name. Its strong without being too abrupt, feminine without being fussy. Tessa on her BC and she (all of her own accord) seem to have adopted Tessie as her name at school and now almost everyone refers to her as Tessie too. I would never have chosen Tessie - but it seems to have stuck all by itself and suits her too. I love it when I hear others considering Tess!

CaffiSaliMali · 20/05/2021 11:20

Both nice but Tessa can always shorten her name to Tess and so you have the best of both worlds.