Show ContentsBesser History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Besser family

The surname Besser was first found in Forez, a former province of France, now part of the modern Loire département, the Haute-Loire and Puy-de-Dôme départements, where the family held a family seat from very early times.

Early History of the Besser family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Besser research. Another 289 words (21 lines of text) covering the years 1447, 1470, 1520, 1549, 1600, 1609, 1612, 1639, 1645, 1657, 1673, 1675, 1690, 1715, 1746 and 1759 are included under the topic Early Besser History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Besser Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Besset, Bessez, Besser, Bessey, Bessé, Bessée, Bezet, Bezez, Bezer, Bezé, Bezée, Bessait, Bessais, Bessaie, Bessaies, Bezait, Bezais, Bezaie, Bezaies, Du Besset, Du Bessez, Du Besser, Du Bessé, Du Bezet, Du Bezez, Du Bezer, Du Bezé, Du Bessait, Du Bessais, Du Bessaie, Du Bessaies, Du Bezait, Du Bezais, Du Bezaie, Du Bezaies, De Besseto, Bessette and many more.

Early Notables of the Besser family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was Claude Du Besset, Lord of Besset during the 1600's; François Byssot de la Rivière (1612-1673), French settler to New France before 1639, he constructed...
Another 32 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Besser Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Besser Ranking

In the United States, the name Besser is the 14,689th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1


Besser migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Besser Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Johan Peter Besser, who arrived in New York in 1709 2
  • Niklaas Besser, who landed in New York in 1709 2
  • Christopher Besser, who settled in Philadelphia in 1732
  • Benddeck Besser, who settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1739
  • Bendeck Besser, who settled in Philadelphia in 1739
Besser Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Edward Besser, who settled in Philadelphia in 1856
  • Gus A Besser, who landed in Mississippi in 1898 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Besser (post 1700) +

  • Matthew Gregory "Matt" Besser (b. 1967), American actor and comedian
  • Stuart Besser, American film producer
  • Joe Besser (1907-1988), American comedic actor, briefly part of the "Three Stooges"
  • Howard Russel Besser (b. 1941), American lawyer
  • Astrid Besser (b. 1989), Italian tennis player
  • Chaskel Besser (1923-2010), Orthodox rabbi
  • Richard E. Besser MD (b. 1959), ABC News Medical editor


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)


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