# Otis (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/otis/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | English |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈoʊtɪs/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Odie |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 61,969 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 61,082 / 887 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 7,121, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

A patronymic surname derived from Middle English genitive case of the Germanic given name Ote, Ode, cognate to modern Otto.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1959 | 5 | 6,957 |
| 1960 | 9 | 4,682 |
| 1961 | 15 | 3,429 |
| 1962 | 9 | 4,780 |
| 1963 | 7 | 5,732 |
| 1964 | 13 | 3,831 |
| 1966 | 6 | 6,357 |
| 1967 | 7 | 5,882 |
| 1968 | 9 | 5,036 |
| 1969 | 6 | 7,223 |
| 1970 | 9 | 5,691 |
| 1971 | 7 | 7,142 |
| 1972 | 6 | 7,947 |
| 1973 | 9 | 5,916 |
| 1976 | 5 | 10,408 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 144 | 1,217 |
| 2012 | 183 | 1,048 |
| 2013 | 177 | 1,064 |
| 2014 | 203 | 1,010 |
| 2015 | 266 | 845 |
| 2016 | 324 | 752 |
| 2017 | 319 | 744 |
| 2018 | 325 | 736 |
| 2019 | 351 | 706 |
| 2020 | 413 | 648 |
| 2021 | 427 | 647 |
| 2022 | 456 | 615 |
| 2023 | 420 | 651 |
| 2024 | 359 | 733 |
| 2025 | 422 | 652 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 100 | 392 |
| 2012 | 125 | 349 |
| 2013 | 127 | 329 |
| 2014 | 164 | 284 |
| 2015 | 198 | 258 |
| 2016 | 245 | 229 |
| 2017 | 281 | 193 |
| 2018 | 277 | 192 |
| 2019 | 455 | 124 |
| 2020 | 612 | 96 |
| 2021 | 737 | 81 |
| 2022 | 842 | 68 |
| 2023 | 784 | 70 |
| 2024 | 762 | 67 |
| 2025 | 726 | 71 |

## People named Otis

- Otis Redding, American singer and songwriter (1941–1967)
- Otis Davis, American sprinter (1932–2024)
- Otis Rush, American musician (1935–2018)
- Otis Harris, American athletics competitor
- Otis Spann, American Chicago blues pianist (1930–1970)
- Otis Blackwell, American songwriter (1931–2002)
- Otis Birdsong, American basketball player (born 1955)
- Otis Barton, American deep-sea diver, inventor, and actor (1899-1992)
- Otis Clay, American R&B and soul singer (1942–2016)
- Otis Harlan, American actor (1865-1940)
- Otis Thorpe, American basketball player (born 1962)
- Otis Taylor, American blues musician

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.