Hesse is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Adolf Friedrich Hesse (1809–1863), German composerEva Hesse (sculptor) (1936–70), painter and sculptorEva Hesse (writer) (born 1925), writer and translatorHermann Hesse (1877–1962), German-born poet, novelist, and painter, Nobel Prize in Literature 1946Karen Hesse (born 1952), US writerKonrad Hesse (1919–2005), German juristMary Hesse (born 1924), US philosopherOtto Hesse (1811–74), German mathematician, known for the Hessian matrixPaul Hesse (1857–1938), German malacologistRichard Hesse (1868–1944), German zoologistWalther Hesse (1846–1911), German microbiologist