The Hess surname
In the 2000 U.S. Census, 57,822 people carried this name — #518 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 4,670 people counted.
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In Switzerland’s population statistics
5,985 people named Hess live in Switzerland.
They live in 25 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 986 people named Hess.
90 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 54 départements, most often Bas-Rhin.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Poland’s population register
567 people named Hess have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 699 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in all 16 of Poland’s voivodeships, most of all in Silesian.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
Who carried it
People named Hess,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Jan Bedřich Hess 1622–1673 · painter -
Ludwig Hess 1760–1800 · painter -
Heinrich von Hess 1788–1870 · politician -
Edmund Hess 1843–1903 · scientist -
C.M. Hess 1851–1929 · factory owner
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 130 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Hess.
- Hervieux 229 · U.S. census
- Hery 191 · U.S. census
- Herz 1,647 · U.S. census
- Herzberg 1,931 · U.S. census
- Herzig 1,470 · U.S. census
- Herzog 10,825 · U.S. census
- Hesse 5,929 · U.S. census
- Hessel 1,233 · U.S. census
- Hettich 758 · U.S. census
- Hettinger 2,962 · U.S. census
- Hettler 506 · U.S. census
- Hetz 522 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Hess is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.