# Otto (surname)

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

A surname from the Germanic languages

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | German |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 22,558 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,587 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 13,687 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.5% (22,001 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɑtoʊ/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Borrowed from German Otto, from Old High German, short form of compound names (such as Otachar, Ottokar) beginning with Proto-West Germanic *aud, from Proto-Germanic *audaz (“wealth, riches”) (cognate of English Ed- in Edgar, Edmund, Edward, Edith, etc.).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Otto 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) | 93% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 2.1% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.2% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 1.2% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Otto in the United States, Australia and Kingdom of Saxony.

## People named Otto

- Miranda Otto, Australian actress
- John Otto, American drummer
- Louise Otto-Peters, 19th-century German feminist, poet, and writer, editor
- Barry Otto, Australian actor and artist
- Henry Otto, American silent film actor and director (1877-1952)
- Joel Otto, American ice hockey player
- Ansger Otto, American soccer player
- Gracie Otto, Australian actress, film producer, writer, and film director
- John Ernest Otto Jr., Acting FBI director
- Jim Otto, American football player (1938–2024)
- James Otto, American musician

## Similar surnames

Ott, Otte, Oday, O'Dea, Oddo, Otey, Ota, Oda, Odeh, Ode, Oddy.

## 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.