Ottilia
A feminine given name of uncertain origin, possibly meaning "prosperous in battle".
Name Census estimates that about 86 living Americans carry the first name Ottilia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ottilia today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ottilia births was 1891 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ottilia. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ottilia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ottilia. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
86
~ 1 in 3,985,516 Americans
Peak year
1891
22 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,796
Tracked since 1880
Census
Ottilia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 166 people with the first name Ottilia, which placed it at #42,903 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
#42,903
National first-name rank
People counted
166
166 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ottilia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ottilia is White at 81.9%. The next largest groups are Black (7.8%) and Hispanic (5.4%). 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 Ottilia 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 Ottilia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.9% · 136
- Black or African American7.8% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino5.4% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 4
- Two or more races1.8% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Ottilia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ottilia from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1890s, with 142 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1890s peak, Ottilia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ottilia 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 Ottilia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ottilias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ottilia
The name Ottilia has its origins in the Germanic languages and is derived from the Old German name Odila or Othilia. The root of the name is believed to be derived from the Germanic elements "od" meaning wealth or prosperity, and "hild" meaning battle. Thus, the name Ottilia can be interpreted to mean "prosperous in battle" or "prosperous warrior".
Ottilia was a popular name among the Germanic tribes during the Middle Ages and was initially more prevalent in regions of modern-day Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The name later spread to other parts of Europe through various cultural exchanges and migrations.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ottilia can be found in the 8th century, when a Benedictine abbess named Ottilia lived in the monastery of St. Odile in Alsace, France. She is revered as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and is the patron saint of good vision and eye disorders.
Another notable figure with the name Ottilia was Ottilia of Katzenelnbogen (1238-1292), a German noblewoman who served as the Abbess of the Convent of St. Cyriacus in Cologne, Germany. She played a significant role in the spiritual and administrative affairs of the convent during her tenure.
In the 16th century, Ottilia Strozzi (1619-1698) was an Italian poet and scholar from the prominent Strozzi family of Florence. She was known for her literary works and her patronage of the arts.
In the 19th century, Ottilia Bonnevie (1840-1926) was a Norwegian author and feminist activist who wrote extensively on women's rights and social issues. She played a pivotal role in the early women's movement in Norway.
Another historical figure bearing the name was Ottilia Jacobsson (1892-1967), a Swedish operatic soprano who performed at the Royal Swedish Opera and other renowned opera houses in Europe during the early 20th century.
While the name Ottilia has seen a decline in popularity in recent times, it has a rich historical legacy and has been borne by notable figures across various cultures and time periods.
People
Ottilia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ottilia 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
Ottilia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ottilia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 86 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ottilia 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 3,985,516 US residents.
Is Ottilia a common name?
We classify Ottilia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 584 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ottilia most popular?
The single biggest year for Ottilia was 1891, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ottilia is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ottilia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 166 people with the name Ottilia, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,903 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 Ottilia 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 Ottilia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ottilia appears almost entirely female. Of the 161 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Ottilia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ottilia is White at 81.9%. The next largest groups are Black (7.8%) and Hispanic (5.4%). 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 Ottilia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ottilia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.9% (136 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 Ottilia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ottilia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ottilia 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.
Is Ottilia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ottilia 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 Ottilia 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 many people share the name Ottilia?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.