Odalys
A feminine name of Venezuelan origin meaning "praise to God".
Name Census estimates that about 3,305 living Americans carry the first name Odalys. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Odalys today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Odalys births was 1996 (322 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Odalys. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
3.3K
~ 1 in 103,708 Americans
Peak year
1996
322 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,620
Tracked since 1960
Popularity
Odalys: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Odalys from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,404 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Odalys by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Odalys during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Odalys' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Odalys, while Connecticut, Massachusetts, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 156 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Odalys
The name Odalys has its origins in the Spanish language and culture. It is a variant spelling of the name Odalis, which is derived from the Old Greek word "odalisque," meaning a female slave or concubine in a Turkish seraglio or harem.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the term "odalisque" referred to a young woman who was a slave or part of the harem in the Ottoman Empire. The name Odalys likely emerged as a feminine given name during this time period, particularly in Spain and other Spanish-speaking regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Odalys can be found in the writings of Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, who lived from 1547 to 1616. In his famous novel "Don Quixote," Cervantes makes reference to an "Odalys," though it is unclear whether this was intended as a name or simply a descriptive term.
In the 19th century, the name Odalys gained some popularity in parts of Europe, particularly in France and Spain. One notable figure who bore this name was Odalys Aguilar (1834-1903), a Cuban singer and actress who performed in various opera houses across Europe during the latter half of the 1800s.
Another prominent individual named Odalys was Odalys García Alonso (1964-present), a Cuban gymnast who won multiple Olympic gold medals for her country in the 1980s and 1990s. She is considered one of the greatest gymnasts of her era and a national hero in Cuba.
Odalys Pérez (1992-present) is a contemporary Cuban volleyball player who has represented her country in several international competitions, including the Olympic Games and World Championships.
In literature, the name Odalys appears in the works of French author Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), who included a character named Odalys in his novel "The Girl with the Golden Eyes."
While the name Odalys has its roots in Spanish and French-speaking cultures, it has also been adopted in other parts of the world, though to a lesser extent. Regardless of its geographic location, the name often carries associations with beauty, grace, and exoticism due to its origins and historical context.
People
Odalys + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Odalys as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Odalys: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Odalys?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,305 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Odalys going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 103,708 US residents.
Is Odalys a common name?
We classify Odalys as "Rare". It ranks above 95.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,385 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Odalys most popular?
The single biggest year for Odalys was 1996, when 322 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Odalys is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Odalys a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Odalys in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.