Ott
A masculine name of uncertain origin, potentially Germanic.
Name Census estimates that about 4 living Americans carry the first name Ott. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ott today is around 97 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ott births was 1920 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ott. 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 Ott is about 97 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Otts were born before 1939.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ott. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
4
~ 1 in 85,688,585 Americans
Peak year
1920
10 babies that year
Average age
97
years old
1943 SSA rank
#3,919
Tracked since 1882
Census
Ott in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 105 people with the first name Ott, which placed it at #52,717 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
#52,717
National first-name rank
People counted
105
105 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ott
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ott is White at 51.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (32.4%) and Black (6.7%). 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 Ott 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 Ott at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.4% · 54
- Asian and Pacific Islander32.4% · 34
- Black or African American6.7% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.8% · 4
- Two or more races1.0% · 1
Popularity
Ott: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ott from the 1880s through to the 1940s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 28 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
Ott 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 Ott during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Otts live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ott
The name Ott is a German given name that has its origins in the medieval era. It is derived from the Old German word "od" or "ot," which means "wealth" or "prosperity." The name was particularly popular among the Germanic tribes that inhabited central and northern Europe during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ott can be found in the Nibelungenlied, a heroic epic poem written in Middle High German around the 13th century. In this work, there is a character named Ott, who is described as a brave warrior and loyal companion to the legendary hero Siegfried.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Ott. One of the most famous was Ott I, Count of Burgundy, who lived from around 950 to 1005 AD. He was a powerful feudal lord who ruled over the region of Franche-Comté in what is now eastern France.
Another prominent figure with the name Ott was Ott II, Count of Burgundy, who lived from around 980 to 1027 AD. He was the son of Ott I and inherited his father's lands and titles, becoming a prominent figure in the political landscape of medieval Europe.
In the realm of religion, there was Ott of Bamberg, a German Roman Catholic bishop who lived from around 1060 to 1139 AD. He was known for his efforts in spreading Christianity throughout what is now Poland and was later canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church.
During the Renaissance period, there was Ott Venius, a Dutch Golden Age painter who lived from around 1556 to 1634. He was known for his portraits and religious paintings, many of which can still be found in museums and churches throughout the Netherlands.
Another notable individual with the name Ott was Ott Thalmann, a German-American architect who lived from 1866 to 1951. He was responsible for designing several important buildings in New York City, including the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and the Metropolitan Opera House.
While the name Ott may have originated in medieval Germany, it has since spread to other parts of the world, particularly through migration and cultural exchange. However, its roots can be traced back to the Old German word "od" or "ot," which symbolized wealth and prosperity for those who bore this name in ancient times.
People
Ott + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ott 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
Ott: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ott?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ott 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 Ott a common name?
We classify Ott 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, 84 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ott most popular?
The single biggest year for Ott was 1920, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ott is about 97 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ott in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 105 people with the name Ott, or 0.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #52,717 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 Ott 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 Ott?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ott leans strongly male. 92 people counted with this name were male (85.2%), compared with 16 female bearers (14.8%). 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 Ott?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ott is White at 51.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (32.4%) and Black (6.7%). 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 Ott most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ott in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.4% (54 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 Ott in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ott a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ott 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 Ott still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ott 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 Ott 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 Ott?
See how many people share the name Ott on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.