Definition of "Tess"

Cynthia and Melinda, reduced to Cindy and Mindy, as Carella had dreaded would happen from the moment she named them. Her older daughter had fared better. Tess, modern and sleek for Teresa, which conjured up cobblestoned streets in a mountain village in Potenza.

1999, Ed McBain, The Big Bad City, Simon and Schuster, page 139