Hess or Heß, a German and Ashkenazi surname, meaning somebody originally from the region of Hesse. Two alternative origins have been reported. Usage in the south of Germany may arise from a contraction of the personal name Matthäus.

Notable people who share this surname include:

Adam Hess (basketball) (born 1981), American basketball player Adam Hess (comedian), British comedian Alexander Hess (1898–1981), Czechoslovak war pilot part of No. 310 Squadron RAF András Hess, Hungarian printer Arthur Hess (SA general) (1891–1959), German SA general and politician Beat W. Hess (born 1949), Swiss businessman Bernhard Hess (born 1966), Swiss politician Bernhard von Hess (1792–1869), Bavarian Lieutenant General and War Minister Carl von Hess (1863–1923), German ophthalmologist Catherina Hess, (born 1985), German actress Charles R. Hess (1858–1928), American politician from Ohio Damian Hess aka MC Frontalot, nerdcore rapper Dean Hess (1917–2015), American Air Force Colonel Derek Hess, (born 1964), American artist Elizabeth Hess (born 1953), Canadian actress Elmar Hess (born 1966), German artist Erika Hess (born 1962), Swiss alpine skier Ernst Hess (1893–1917), German World War I flying ace Ernst Hess (composer) (1912-1968), Swiss conductor, composer and musicologist Ernst Moritz Hess (1890-1983), German soldier, judge, railway administrator, and holocaust survivor Fred Hess (1944–2018), American jazz musician Fred Hess (Wisconsin) (1858–1925), American politician Fred J. Hess (1848–1928), American politician Germain Henri Hess (1802–1850), Russian-Swiss chemist Greg Hess (born 1962), 16th president of Wabash College Hans-Georg Hess (1923–2008), German U-boat captain Harry Hammond Hess (1906–1969), American geologist Harry Hess, American college sports coach Harvey Hess (1939–2012), American lyric poet Heinrich von Heß (1788–1870), Austrian fieldmarshall Heinrich Maria von Hess, German painter Henry L. Hess (1890–1974), American politician from Oregon Hiester Hess (died 1922), American politician from Maryland Hermann Hesse (1877–1962), German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter Hieronymus Hess, Swiss drawer, painter, caricaturist (1799–1850) Hunter Hess (born 1998), American freestyle skier Ilse Hess, German writer (1900–1995) Jake Hess, American southern gospel vocalist Jared Hess (born 1979), American writer and director of Napoleon Dynamite Jean-Chrisostome Hess (1816–1900), French composer, pianist, and organist Jessica Hess (born 1981), American realist painter Johann Hess (Hesse), (1490–1547), German theologian John Jacob Hess (1584–1639), Swiss-German Anabaptist minister and martyr John L. Hess (1917–2005), American journalist Karl Hess (1923–1994), American speechwriter and author Karl Hess (painter) (1801–1874), German painter Leon Hess Founder of Hess Corporation and the New York Jets franchise Lyle Hess, (1912-2002) American sailboat designer Marilyn Hess (born 1939), American politician Markus Hess, German hacker Martin Hess (politician) (born 1971), German politician Michael A. Hess (1952–1995), American lawyer Moses Hess (1812–1875), Jewish philosopher and proto-Zionist Myra Hess (1890–1965), British pianist Nicole Hess (born 1973), German politician Nigel Hess, British composer Ortwin Hess, British optician and physicist Orvan Hess (1906–2002), doctor who invented the fetal heart monitor Paul Hess (born 1948), American politician from Kansas Per Hess (born 1946), Norwegian visual artist Peter von Hess, German painter Ralph Hess (born 1939), American politician from Pennsylvania Robert Hess (chess player), American chess grandmaster Robert Hess (college president) (1938–1994), American President of Brooklyn College Rudolf Hess (1894–1987), Deputy Führer of Nazi Germany Rudolf Hess (artist) (1903–1986), Californian painter and art critic Sara Whalen Hess (born 1976), American Olympic soccer player Ursula Hess (born 1946), Swiss archer Ursula Hess (psychologist) (born 1960), German psychologist Victor Francis Hess (1883–1964), Austrian-American physicist who discovered cosmic rays W. Dale Hess (1930–2016), American politician Walter Rudolf Hess (1881–1973), Swiss physiologist Nobel Prize winner Willy Hess (composer) (1906–1997), Swiss musicologist, composer, Beethoven scholar Willy Hess (violinist) (1859–1939), German famous violin virtuoso Wolf Rüdiger Hess (Heß) (1937–2001), German architect son of Rudolf Hess

See also Höss (surname) Helius Eobanus Hessus (1488–1540), German Latin poet The Hess Homestead Hesse (surname)

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