Otto

Did you know?

A few things about Otto you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Otto

Otto Hahn

German chemist and physicist (1879-1968)

Choose Otto and your child shares a first name with Otto Hahn, a German chemist and physicist. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Otto, like who?” Otto Hahn's Wikipedia article is available in 96 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Otto Hahn on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Nobel Foundation, Public domain (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 1,376 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Otto, 1,241 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Otto would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryOtto has been in use since at least 1880, the first year US birth records were kept. That's 145 years of Ottos, and counting.
• 🏆Best yearIt was far more popular in 1880, when it ranked #63. Today it's #277, so it could be due a comeback.
• 📈Then vs nowOtto is 23× more common today than it was in 2000. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 32,154 baby boys; in 2025, about 1 in 1,376.
• 🚀TrendOtto has climbed 112 places in the US rankings over the last five years and now sits at #277. Fast risers like this often keep climbing, so expect to hear it more.
• 📍Where it's lovedOtto is most popular in North Dakota, where it ranks #53, followed by South Dakota (#85) and Minnesota (#88). It makes the top 1,000 in almost every state.
• 💬MeaningIn Germanic, Otto means “wealth”.
• 🔁Word funOtto is a palindrome: it reads the same forwards and backwards.

About the name Otto

Otto is a boy name meaning “wealth”. It has 4 letters and 2 syllables, starting with O and ending in “-tto”. US birth records list Otto for boys from 1880 to 2025, in 146 of those 146 years. Its best year was 1880, when it ranked #63 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #277, with 1,241 babies.