How common is the surname Otis?

7,549 people in the United States had the surname Otis in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 40,899 Americans. It ranked 4,699th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Otis?

Mercy Otis Warren, American writer, followed by Carré Otis.

Where is the surname Otis most common?

Wikidata records people named Otis in the United States.

How do you pronounce Otis?

Otis is /ˈoʊtɪs/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Otis getting more or less common?

Less common. 7,579 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 7,549 in 2010, down 0.4%.

Is Otis also a first name?

Yes. Otis is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Otis

An English patronymic surname, carried by 7,549 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈoʊtɪs/ 2 syllables Soundex O320 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Otis is more common than 97.1% of them.

Origin

English origin

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

Otis is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 7,549 people named Otis in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 40,899 Americans. That is about the same as in 2000, when the Census counted 7,579.

#4,699

rank among US surnames

7,549

people in 2010

2.6

per 100,000 Americans

-0.4%

change since 2000 (was #4,338)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#4,690	Henke	7,566	40,807
#4,692	Avelar	7,564	40,818
#4,693	Carpio	7,561	40,834
#4,694	Graziano	7,559	40,845
#4,695	Damon	7,555	40,866
#4,696	Gearhart	7,553	40,877
#4,697	Larose	7,552	40,883

Who is named Otis

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

74% of people named Otis identified as white (not Hispanic), 19% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.8% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

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

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Otiss

4 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Mercy Otis Warren
American writer, 1728–1814
Carré Otis
American actress and model (born 1968)
Harrison Gray Otis
American politician (1765-1848)
Bass Otis
American artist (1784-1861)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Otis

Otis has the Soundex code O320, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code O320.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Otis come from?: A patronymic surname derived from Middle English genitive case of the Germanic given name Ote, Ode, cognate to modern Otto.
How common is the surname Otis?: 7,549 people in the United States had the surname Otis in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 40,899 Americans. It ranked 4,699th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Otis?: In the 2010 Census, 74% of people named Otis identified as white (not Hispanic), and 19% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Otis?: Mercy Otis Warren, American writer, followed by Carré Otis.
Where is the surname Otis most common?: Wikidata records people named Otis in the United States.
How do you pronounce Otis?: Otis is /ˈoʊtɪs/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Otis?: Otis is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Otis getting more or less common?: Less common. 7,579 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 7,549 in 2010, down 0.4%.
Is Otis also a first name?: Yes. Otis is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.