Head to head · Boys' names
Otis vs Quincy
#652 vs #652 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Otis and Quincy share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#652). The records cannot split them; sound and story will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Otis leads 2 measures of 6; Quincy leads 0.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Otis #136, Quincy #721 — Otis higher
- 1890s: Otis #122, Quincy #750 — Otis higher
- 1900s: Otis #113, Quincy #782 — Otis higher
- 1910s: Otis #136, Quincy #923 — Otis higher
- 1920s: Otis #161, Quincy #1058 — Otis higher
- 1930s: Otis #181, Quincy #1058 — Otis higher
- 1940s: Otis #209, Quincy #1051 — Otis higher
- 1950s: Otis #263, Quincy #997 — Otis higher
- 1960s: Otis #348, Quincy #846 — Otis higher
- 1970s: Otis #427, Quincy #398 — Quincy higher
- 1980s: Otis #598, Quincy #457 — Quincy higher
- 1990s: Otis #992, Quincy #497 — Quincy higher
- 2000s: Otis #1427, Quincy #479 — Quincy higher
- 2010s: Otis #949, Quincy #598 — Quincy higher
- 2020s: Otis #657, Quincy #653 — Quincy higher
Otis stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Quincy has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Otis | Quincy |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #136 | #721 |
| 1890s | #122 | #750 |
| 1900s | #113 | #782 |
| 1910s | #136 | #923 |
| 1920s | #161 | #1058 |
| 1930s | #181 | #1058 |
| 1940s | #209 | #1051 |
| 1950s | #263 | #997 |
| 1960s | #348 | #846 |
| 1970s | #427 | #398 |
| 1980s | #598 | #457 |
| 1990s | #992 | #497 |
| 2000s | #1427 | #479 |
| 2010s | #949 | #598 |
| 2020s | #657 | #653 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Otis
- England & Wales#67
Quincy
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Otis
Not established
The surname comes from a medieval given name, a form of the Norman Odo, and what that name meant before it was a name has not been recovered. The readings sometimes offered — wealth, or a Greek word about hearing — belong to other names entirely.
Odo → Otes → Otis
How it traveled
James Otis argued against the writs of assistance in a Boston courtroom, for five hours, and lost — but the argument that a general search warrant was illegal because a man's house is his castle went into the American constitutional tradition and eventually into the Fourth Amendment. John Adams, who was in the room, said the child independence was born there.
Quincy
estate of Quintus — from the Latin name Quintus, 'fifth'
The French place names Quincy come from Gallo-Roman Quintiacum, the holding of a man called Quintius or Quintus. Quintus itself was given in Roman families to a fifth child.
Quintus → Quintiacum → de Quincy → Quincy
How it traveled
There are several villages in France named Quincy, each from a Gallo-Roman landholder's name, and Norman families took the place name with them as a surname — de Quincy turns up among the Anglo-Norman nobility of England and Scotland in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The surname reached colonial New England, where the Quincys of Massachusetts gave their name to a town south of Boston and, through marriage, to the sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Otis
OH-tis
Two syllables, stress at the front, ending in a soft s. Nothing in the spelling is ambiguous.
- Ote — The front alone, which is about all a two-syllable name this short allows.
- Oti — The name with its final consonant softened, a household form.
Quincy
KWIN-see
KWIN-see is the standard pronunciation of the name. The Massachusetts town is locally KWIN-zee, so the occasional person will try that reading first; one correction usually settles it.
- Quin — The most common short form, used informally and in writing alike.
- Quinn — The same sound with the spelling of an independent given name now used for boys and girls.
- Q — An initial used as a nickname, mostly among friends and teammates rather than family.
- Quincey — An older spelling of the full name that also circulates as an affectionate variant.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Otis if you want…
- a name that charts abroad tooOtis is on the national lists of England & Wales
Choose Quincy if you want…
- a name holding steadyQuincy is holding its place on the charts
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Quin, Quinn and Q
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Otis
Strengths
- It is short, warm and completely unambiguous in English.
- It has genuine American history behind it rather than an invented one.
- It has come back into fashion without ever becoming crowded.
To consider
- For many Americans the name means an elevator company before it means a person.
- The spelling is recorded for both sexes, though the boys hold nearly all of it.
- No meaning can honestly be handed to a child with it.
Quincy
Strengths
- Instantly spellable for most Americans thanks to the town, the president and the -cy ending; almost no one needs it repeated twice.
- Comes with ready-made short forms — Quin, Quinn, Q — none of which had to be invented.
- Recorded for boys and girls both, so it works either way without becoming a different name.
To consider
- It leans male in the records without settling there. A girl named Quincy will meet forms and teachers that assume a boy — manageable, but worth expecting.
- The spelling competes with Quincey, and Quinn is close enough in sound that people may default to it. Expect to confirm which one you meant.
- The name carries strong cultural associations for adults — a celebrated American musician and a long-running television series — which may come up more with older acquaintances than with classmates.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Otis and Quincy in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Otis and Quincy?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- British invasion: UK favorites still rare in the US
- Cottagecore names from a storybook garden
- Grandpa names ready for the playground
- Celebrity baby names that caught on
- all guides
Where Otis and Quincy each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Otis or Quincy — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Otis or Quincy?
- They tie in 2025: Otis ranked #652 with 422 babies; Quincy ranked #652 with 422 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Otis or Quincy?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Otis moved down 4 places; Quincy moved down 47 places.
- Which is the older name, Otis or Quincy?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Otis and Quincy?
- About 27,000 people named Otis are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 25,000 people named Quincy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Otiss or Quincys in the classroom?
- Otis will almost certainly be the only one in school. Quincy will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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