# Otis (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/otis/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname transferred from the given name, notably of the American revolutionary hero James Otis and the innovator and industrialist Elisha Otis.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 7,549 |
| US rank (2010) | 4,699 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 40,899 people |
| Change since 2000 | -0.4% (7,579 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈoʊtɪs/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

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

## Who carries it

Share of people named Otis in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 74% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 19% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.8% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 2.0% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Otis in the United States.

## People named Otis

- Mercy Otis Warren, American writer
- Carré Otis, American actress and model (born 1968)
- Harrison Gray Otis, American politician (1765-1848)
- Bass Otis, American artist (1784-1861)

## Similar surnames

Otts, Oats, Oates, Odisho.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.