All names A–Z
What does Tess mean?
Greek: A crisp short form of Theresa — a great one-beat call..
Is Tess a good dog name?
Excellent to call. Short and clear — a practical length for recall at the park.
Tess in the Pets in the City community
Ranked #96 all-time — about 0.9 in every 1,000 dogs we care for (32 dogs). Trend: insufficient data.
From anonymised, aggregated records of dogs at our 5 Auckland centres, as of 2026-08-01. Our community, not a national census.
What kind of dog does Tess suit?
Classic
Human name
Suggestions only — plenty of dogs happily wear names that break every rule.
Our entirely unscientific pack opinion
Tess the Great
As we settled in for nap time, I overheard Sparky whisper, "I bet Tess is a real big deal—like the kind of dog who has her own cheering section for nap time!"
Names similar to Tess
Ab — Short form of Abraham, meaning 'father of many' in Hebrew.Abbe — French word for 'abbot', a title for a religious leader.Ahn — Means 'peace' or 'calm' in Vietnamese.Ainslee — A variant of Ainsley, meaning 'one's own meadow'.Alf — Of Old English origin, meaning 'elf' or 'supernatural being'.Alfie — A warm pet form of Alfred, "wise counsellor".Amr — Means 'long-lived' or 'prosperous' in Arabic.Andrae — A variant of Andrew, meaning 'manly' or 'brave'.