Otho
Masculine · “wealth”
Otho is the Latin form of Otto, and the Germanic behind it is wealth — the ancestral property of a family, which is what the Frankish and Saxon nobility named their sons for.
How old is the name Otho?
Otho was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Otho alive today was born around 1924, making them about 101 years old. About 500 people named Otho are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Otho most popular?
Otho peaked in 1881, reaching #318 nationally. See the whole 1881 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From aud to Otho
The story of Otho
Otto was the name of four Holy Roman Emperors, beginning with Otto the Great in 962, and Otho was how their names were written in Latin chronicles. A Roman emperor of AD 69 also carried Otho, from an unrelated Etruscan family name. German emigration brought Otto and Otho to America, where Otho peaked around 1885.
Meaning
wealth, inheritance
From the Germanic aud or od, 'wealth' or 'inherited property'. Otto is the short form of longer compounds such as Otthard and Otfrid. Otho is the Latin spelling used in medieval documents. The element is ordinary Germanic and the meaning undisputed.
How the name formed
- aud
- Otto
- Otho
Related forms: Otto · Ottone · Otto
Pronouncing Otho
OH-thoh
Two syllables, stress on the first. Some bearers say OH-toh, treating the h as silent.
Nicknames for Otho
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1922103 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #318reached in 1881
- Change vs 1984
- 0.0%5 in 1991, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Otho in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Otto in German — related form
- Ottone in Italian — related form
- Otto in Dutch — related form
Othos among us
people named Otho are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Otho sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Four Holy Roman Emperors and a Roman emperor carry the name.
- Otto is available as a fully current alternative form.
- It is unusual enough to be encountered almost nowhere else.
- Otto is much the commoner form and will often be substituted.
- The th splits between two pronunciations.
- It is strongly period-coded to the nineteenth century.
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Otho
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Othos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Otho are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Otho in 2025?
- Otho is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Otho with classmates?
- Otho will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More O names
The most-given names starting with O, all years combined.
Oliver#3 · Owen#31 · Oscar#223 · Omar#260 · Otis#652 · Orlando#871 · Otto#277 · Orville#6143
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Otho? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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