Odessa
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "journey from odious place".
Name Census estimates that about 5,827 living Americans carry the first name Odessa. It is a predominantly female name (99.2% of registrations). The average person named Odessa today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Odessa births was 1920 (470 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Odessa. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Odessa with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Odessa is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 154 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
5.8K
~ 1 in 58,822 Americans
Peak year
1920
470 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
1998 SSA rank
#1,583
Tracked since 1880
Census
Odessa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,906 people with the first name Odessa, which placed it at #3,506 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,506
National first-name rank
People counted
5.9K
5,906 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
54.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Odessa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Odessa is Black at 54.1%. The next largest groups are White (30.1%) and Hispanic (6.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Odessa described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Odessa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American54.1% · 3,193
- White30.1% · 1,778
- Hispanic or Latino6.1% · 363
- Two or more races5.1% · 302
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 168
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 102
Gender
Gender distribution for Odessa
Out of the 18,526 babies given the name Odessa since 1880, 99.2% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Odessa as a male name
- Ranked #9,308 in 1998
- 6 male births in 1998
- Peak: 1919 (11 births)
Odessa as a female name
- Ranked #1,583 in 2024
- 133 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1920 (464 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Odessa leans strongly female. 5,847 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 62 male bearers (1.0%).
Popularity
Odessa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Odessa from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 4,180 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Odessa by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Odessa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Odessas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 35 states and territories. Texas, Georgia, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Odessa, while New Mexico, Iowa, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 355 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Odessa
The given name Odessa has its roots in ancient Greek culture, tracing back to the 6th century BC. It is derived from the Greek word "Odysseia," which refers to Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey. The name is believed to be a feminine form of the name Odysseus, the hero of the Odyssey.
Odessa gained popularity in the Byzantine Empire and was later adopted by various Slavic cultures. In Russia, the name Odessa became associated with the city of the same name, founded in 1794 by Catherine the Great. The city was named after the ancient Greek city of Odessos, which was located near the modern-day Ukrainian port city.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Odessa can be found in the 15th-century Russian epic poem "The Tale of Igor's Campaign." The poem features a character named Odessa, though details about her are scarce.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Odessa. One of the most famous was Odessa Madre de Dios (1845-1935), a Cuban poet and revolutionary who played a significant role in the country's struggle for independence from Spain.
Another notable Odessa was Odessa Woolfolk (1936-2008), an American educator and civil rights activist who fought for desegregation and equal education opportunities in the United States.
In the world of literature, Odessa Cleveland (1899-1981) was an American novelist and short story writer known for her works set in the American South.
In the realm of sports, Odessa Zharikova (1919-2009) was a Soviet gymnast who won multiple medals at the 1952 and 1956 Olympic Games.
Lastly, Odessa Permiloff (1887-1973) was a Russian-American ballet dancer and choreographer who performed with the Ballets Russes and later taught at various dance schools in the United States.
People
Odessa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Odessa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Odessa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Odessa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,827 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Odessa going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 58,822 US residents.
Is Odessa a common name?
We classify Odessa as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 18,526 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Odessa most popular?
The single biggest year for Odessa was 1920, when 470 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Odessa is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Odessa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,906 people with the name Odessa, or 1.96 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,506 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Odessa in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Odessa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Odessa leans strongly female. 5,847 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 62 male bearers (1.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Odessa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Odessa is Black at 54.1%. The next largest groups are White (30.1%) and Hispanic (6.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Odessa most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Odessa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.1% (3,193 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Odessa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Odessa a female name?
Yes, 99.2% of people registered as Odessa in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Odessa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Odessa in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Odessa can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Odessa?
See how many people share the name Odessa on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.