Ottilia
Feminine · “Germanic "wealth”
Odilia of Alsace was born blind and abandoned, and became the patron saint of the blind. The legend has her receiving sight at baptism; the monastery she founded stands on a hill in the Vosges that still carries her name, and it has been a pilgrimage site for thirteen hundred years.
How old is the name Ottilia?
Ottilia was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Ottilia alive today was born around 1910, making them about 115 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Ottilia are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Ottilia most popular?
Ottilia peaked in 1891, reaching #559 nationally. Today it ranks #7885, 7,326 places below that high. See the whole 1891 chart.
Where it comes from
From od to Ottilia
The story of Ottilia
The Life of Odilia was written some three centuries after her death and is more legend than record, but the outline is consistent: a duke's daughter of seventh-century Alsace, rejected for her blindness, healed at baptism, who founded a convent at Hohenburg and another below it for pilgrims. The mountain became the Odilienberg and remains one of the major pilgrimage sites of Alsace, and she was declared patron saint of the region in 1807. The name spread through Germany, Scandinavia and Hungary, and reached America with German immigration; Ottilia peaks in 1891.
Meaning
Germanic "wealth, inheritance"
From the Germanic element od or ot, meaning wealth, property or inheritance — the same element in Otto, Otmar and the Old English ēad behind Edward and Edith. Odilia and Ottilia are variant developments, and the double t reflects the High German consonant shift, which turned d into t across the southern German dialects.
How the name formed
- od
- Odilia
- Ottilia
Related forms: Ottilie · Ottilia · Odile · Otília
Pronouncing Ottilia
oh-TEE-lee-ah
Four syllables, stress on the second. German Ottilie is oh-TEE-lee-uh with three; French Odile is oh-DEEL with two and final stress.
Nicknames for Ottilia
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 girls named
- 189122 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #559reached in 1891
- Change vs 2024
- +8.3%13 in 2025, from 12
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.
Ottilia in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ottilie in German — same name
- Ottilia in Swedish — same name
- Odile in French — same name
- Otília in Hungarian — same name
Ottilias among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Ottilia are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
About 1 girl in 123,636 born in 2025 was named Ottilia
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Ottilia
- #7885
- Ottilia on the 2025 chart
- #921
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Ottilia went to 13 girls in 2025, but Otilia and Otillia are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 39, which makes it the 921st most-given girls’ name of the year — 6,964 places above the chart.
- Otilia18
- Ottilia13
- Otillia8
About 1 girl in 41,212 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 123,636 for Ottilia itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Ottilia sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Ottilia beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ottilia in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The Germanic element has a settled meaning.
- Tilly is a warm and established short form.
- It is used across German, Swedish, French and Hungarian naming.
- Four syllables is long for American everyday use.
- Ottilie, Odilia and Odile are competing forms.
- The 1890s peak dates a bearer strongly.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Ottilia to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Ottilia? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Ottilia
Feminine · #7885 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ottilias are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. Fewer than a hundred people named Ottilia are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How do you spell Ottilia?
- Ottilia is one of 3 recorded spellings. Otilia is the more common one — 18 births in 2025 against 13 for Ottilia.
- How popular is the name Ottilia in 2025?
- Ottilia ranks #7885 among US girl names in 2025, with 13 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ottilia?
- About 1 in every 123,636 US girls born in 2025 was named Ottilia — 13 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ottilia with classmates?
- Ottilia will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ottilia
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ola#7885 · Loula#7885 · Consuelo#7885 · Santa#7885 · Florentina#7885 · Marty#7885 · Jaye#7885 · Dollie#7885
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ottilia? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ottilia and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle