Ottie
Diminutive form of Otto, a German name meaning "prosperous" or "wealthy".
Name Census estimates that about 235 living Americans carry the first name Ottie. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 67.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Ottie today is around 77 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ottie births was 1917 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ottie. 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
- • Ottie was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
- • The typical person named Ottie is about 77 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Otties were born before 1959.
People living today
235
~ 1 in 1,458,529 Americans
Peak year
1917
63 babies that year
Average age
77
years old
1975 SSA rank
#5,285
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Ottie
Ottie is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,884 total registrations, 609 (32.3%) were male and 1,275 (67.7%) were female.
Ottie as a male name
- Ranked #5,285 in 1975
- 6 male births in 1975
- Peak: 1921 (23 births)
Ottie as a female name
- Ranked #17,016 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1917 (53 births)
Popularity
Ottie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ottie from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 396 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
Ottie 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 Ottie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Otties live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Texas, Alabama, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Ottie, while Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ottie
The name Ottie is a diminutive form of the Germanic name Otto, which means "prosperous" or "wealthy" in Old High German. It originated in the 9th century and was derived from the Old High German word "ot" meaning "possession" or "wealth."
The name Otto gained popularity in the Holy Roman Empire, where several Holy Roman Emperors bore this name, including Otto I (912-973), who was crowned as the first Holy Roman Emperor in 962. Otto III (980-1002) was another notable Holy Roman Emperor who helped in the spread of this name.
In medieval times, the name Ottie was a common nickname or pet form of Otto, particularly in regions where German was spoken. It appeared in various written records and historical documents from that era.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Ottie was Ottie von Wittelsbach (1109-1183), a Bavarian nobleman and member of the House of Wittelsbach, one of the oldest and most prestigious noble families in Europe.
Another notable bearer of the name was Ottie von Wolfskehl (1247-1312), a German knight and crusader who participated in the Seventh Crusade led by Louis IX of France in the 13th century.
In the 14th century, Ottie von Zollern (1320-1379) was a German count and the progenitor of the Hohenzollern dynasty, which ruled Prussia and later the German Empire.
During the Renaissance, Ottie Brunfels (1488-1534) was a renowned German theologian, botanist, and one of the founders of the scientific study of plants.
In more recent history, Ottie Moore (1914-1998) was an American jazz double-bassist and vocalist, known for his work with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker in the bebop era.
People
Ottie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ottie 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
Ottie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ottie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 235 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ottie 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 1,458,529 US residents.
Is Ottie a common name?
We classify Ottie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,884 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ottie most popular?
The single biggest year for Ottie was 1917, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ottie is about 77 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ottie a female name?
Yes, 67.7% of people registered as Ottie 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.