Comments (Meaning / History Only)
The name day of Bessarion is the 20th of February in Russian Orthodox Church, 6th of July in Greek Orthodox Church and the 17th of June in the Catholic Church.
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There are sources that claim that this name is derived from Greek βῆσσα (bessa) meaning "wooded valley, wooded combe, glen". Also compare βᾶσσα (bassa), which is the Doric Greek equivalent of the aforementioned 'bessa'. One of those sources is "Etymologica: Deciphering Hellenic Names", which is Pavlos' now defunct website about Greek personal names. Fortunately, the website can still be viewed and consulted at The Wayback Machine. The relevant page is featured below (look for the entry of Vissarion/Bissarion):
http://web.archive.org/web/20120309033310/http://www.etymologica.com/page3.htm
Alternatively, the name could be derived from Greek βασσάριον (bassarion) meaning "little fox", which is ultimately derived from Greek βασσάρα (bassara) meaning "fox". Some sources claim that 'bassara' is a Thracian loanword (with the same meaning). It should be noted that the Thracian language is not a hellenic language. Other sources claim that 'bassara' comes from the Semitic root 'bsr', which is found in Hebrew as 'basar'. Both refer to cutting something down or off, such as grapes. For this, see pages 188 and 189 of the book "Hellenosemitica" by Michael C. Astour:
http://books.google.nl/books?id=NMkUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA188
http://books.google.nl/books?id=NMkUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA189
For more words starting with 'bass-', see the Greek dictionary at the Perseus Digital Library of Tufts University:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/resolveform?type=start&lookup=bass&lang=greek
(The dictionary contains no words that start with 'bess-' or 'biss-'.)
Most of the words in the link above are related to 'bassara'. One of the exceptions to this is βασσαρέω (bassareo), which is said to be the equivalent of Βακχεύω (Baccheuo) meaning "to celebrate the mysteries of Bacchus". As such, there is a possibility that the name Bessarion could also be related to the god Bacchus.
All in all, there are several possibilities available for the name Bessarion, but it's difficult to tell which one of them is most plausible for Bessarion. [noted -ed]
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http://web.archive.org/web/20120309033310/http://www.etymologica.com/page3.htm
Alternatively, the name could be derived from Greek βασσάριον (bassarion) meaning "little fox", which is ultimately derived from Greek βασσάρα (bassara) meaning "fox". Some sources claim that 'bassara' is a Thracian loanword (with the same meaning). It should be noted that the Thracian language is not a hellenic language. Other sources claim that 'bassara' comes from the Semitic root 'bsr', which is found in Hebrew as 'basar'. Both refer to cutting something down or off, such as grapes. For this, see pages 188 and 189 of the book "Hellenosemitica" by Michael C. Astour:
http://books.google.nl/books?id=NMkUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA188
http://books.google.nl/books?id=NMkUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA189
For more words starting with 'bass-', see the Greek dictionary at the Perseus Digital Library of Tufts University:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/resolveform?type=start&lookup=bass&lang=greek
(The dictionary contains no words that start with 'bess-' or 'biss-'.)
Most of the words in the link above are related to 'bassara'. One of the exceptions to this is βασσαρέω (bassareo), which is said to be the equivalent of Βακχεύω (Baccheuo) meaning "to celebrate the mysteries of Bacchus". As such, there is a possibility that the name Bessarion could also be related to the god Bacchus.
All in all, there are several possibilities available for the name Bessarion, but it's difficult to tell which one of them is most plausible for Bessarion. [noted -ed]
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