Othie
A feminine name derived from the French name Othalie or Ottalie.
Name Census estimates that about 4 living Americans carry the first name Othie. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Othie today is around 84 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Othie births was 1916 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Othie. 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 Othie is about 84 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Othies were born before 1952.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Othie. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
4
~ 1 in 85,688,585 Americans
Peak year
1916
7 babies that year
Average age
84
years old
1947 SSA rank
#3,652
Tracked since 1912
Popularity
Othie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Othie from the 1910s through to the 1940s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 12 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Othie remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Othie 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 Othie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Othie
The name Othie is thought to have originated in the late medieval period, likely derived from the Old English word "oth" which meant "oath" or "vow." It was primarily used in regions of modern-day England and parts of northern Europe during the 12th-15th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Othie can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript survey commissioned in 1086 by William the Conqueror. The name appears as a variant spelling of Odo, referring to a landholder in Sussex. This suggests that Othie may have initially been a diminutive or nickname form of the more common Norman name Odo.
In the 13th century, an Othie de Taunton is mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire, indicating the name's use during the Angevin period of English history. A century later, historical records from the Hundred Years' War note an Othie de Montfort, a minor nobleman who fought alongside the English forces at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.
During the Renaissance era, the name Othie appears to have fallen out of widespread use, though there are a few notable individuals who bore this moniker. Othie de la Roche (1520-1588) was a French scholar and translator who produced Latin and Greek editions of classical texts. In England, the antiquarian Othie Vaughan (1565-1624) is remembered for his detailed records of Welsh genealogy and local history.
Fast-forwarding to the 19th century, Othie Olson (1845-1920) was a Norwegian-American pioneer who settled in Minnesota and played a role in the establishment of several communities in the region. Another notable figure was Othie Tanner (1875-1949), an American artist and illustrator renowned for her etchings and portraits.
While the name Othie has declined in usage over the past few centuries, it remains a unique and intriguing moniker with a rich historical legacy spanning multiple cultures and eras.
People
Othie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Othie 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
Othie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Othie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Othie 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 85,688,585 US residents.
Is Othie a common name?
We classify Othie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 6.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 29 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Othie most popular?
The single biggest year for Othie was 1916, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Othie is about 84 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Othie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Othie a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Othie 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 Othie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Othie 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 Othie 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Othie?
Find out how many people share the name Othie on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.