Otha
A feminine name of likely Spanish origin, with an uncertain meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 2,714 living Americans carry the first name Otha. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 82.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Otha today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Otha births was 1921 (180 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Otha. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Otha is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Othas were born before 1968.
People living today
2.7K
~ 1 in 126,291 Americans
Peak year
1921
180 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
2018 SSA rank
#5,867
Tracked since 1880
Census
Otha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,235 people with the first name Otha, which placed it at #6,976 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,976
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,235 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
69.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Otha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Otha is Black at 69.5%. The next largest groups are White (26.6%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Otha described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Otha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American69.5% · 1,554
- White26.6% · 595
- Two or more races2.7% · 60
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.0% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Otha
Otha leans heavily male at 82.0% of total registrations, but 1,403 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Otha as a male name
- Ranked #10,452 in 2018
- 7 male births in 2018
- Peak: 1920 (140 births)
Otha as a female name
- Ranked #5,867 in 1971
- 9 female births in 1971
- Peak: 1922 (45 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Otha leans strongly male. 1,918 people counted with this name were male (85.9%), compared with 314 female bearers (14.1%).
Popularity
Otha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Otha from the 1880s through to the 2010s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,553 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Otha 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 Otha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Othas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. Mississippi, Texas, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Otha, while Ohio, Florida, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 209 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Otha
The name Otha is a masculine given name of uncertain origin, but it is believed to have roots in various ancient cultures and languages. Some linguists trace it back to the Old Norse word "othr," meaning "wealth" or "prosperity." Others link it to the Old English word "oth," which referred to a particular type of oath or pledge.
In ancient Germanic and Norse mythology, there are references to a figure named Otha or Othin, who was associated with wisdom, poetry, and battle. This mythological connection may have contributed to the name's early usage and popularity in certain regions of Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Otha can be found in the Domesday Book, a survey of landholdings commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The Domesday Book mentions an individual named Otha who held land in the county of Norfolk, England.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Otha. One of the most famous was Otha the Illustrious (796-853), a Frankish count and military leader who served under Louis the Pious, the Carolingian emperor. Otha played a significant role in the wars against the Vikings and was celebrated for his bravery and strategic prowess.
Another prominent figure was Otha of Merania (1180-1248), a German nobleman and Duke of Merania. He was a powerful ruler in the Holy Roman Empire and a supporter of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. Otha of Merania was also a patron of the arts and contributed to the construction of several notable buildings, including the Cathedral of Bamberg.
In the realm of literature, Otha was the name of a character in the epic poem "Beowulf," one of the most important works of Old English literature. Otha was portrayed as a brave warrior and loyal companion to the legendary hero Beowulf.
Another historical figure named Otha was Otha the Great (1020-1095), a Benedictine monk and scholar from the Abbey of Cluny in France. He was renowned for his expertise in theology, philosophy, and the liberal arts, and his writings influenced the intellectual climate of the Middle Ages.
Lastly, Otha of Ratisbon (1088-1158) was a German bishop and chronicler who authored the "Gesta Friderici I. Imperatoris" (Deeds of Frederick I, Emperor), an important historical account of the reign of Frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the name Otha, a name steeped in ancient mythology, literature, and cultural traditions.
People
Otha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Otha 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
Otha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Otha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,714 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Otha 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 126,291 US residents.
Is Otha a common name?
We classify Otha as "Rare". It ranks above 94.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,789 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Otha most popular?
The single biggest year for Otha was 1921, when 180 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Otha is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Otha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,235 people with the name Otha, or 0.74 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,976 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Otha in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Otha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Otha leans strongly male. 1,918 people counted with this name were male (85.9%), compared with 314 female bearers (14.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Otha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Otha is Black at 69.5%. The next largest groups are White (26.6%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Otha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Otha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.5% (1,554 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Otha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Otha a male name?
Yes, 82.0% of people registered as Otha in the SSA data are male. 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.
Is Otha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Otha in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Otha can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How common is the name Otha?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.