Odessia
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "traveler" or "travel".
Name Census estimates that about 115 living Americans carry the first name Odessia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Odessia today is around 78 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Odessia births was 1922 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Odessia. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Odessia is about 78 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Odessias were born before 1958.
People living today
115
~ 1 in 2,980,473 Americans
Peak year
1922
25 babies that year
Average age
78
years old
1975 SSA rank
#10,118
Tracked since 1901
Census
Odessia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 147 people with the first name Odessia, which placed it at #45,869 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
#45,869
National first-name rank
People counted
147
147 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
76.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Odessia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Odessia is Black at 76.2%. The next largest groups are White (19.0%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.0%). 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 Odessia 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 Odessia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American76.2% · 112
- White19.0% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 3
- Two or more races2.0% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 1
Popularity
Odessia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Odessia from the 1900s through to the 1970s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 196 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
Odessia 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 Odessia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Odessias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Arkansas, North Carolina, Mississippi recorded the most babies named Odessia, while Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Odessia
The name Odessia has its origins in the ancient Greek language, where it is believed to be a feminine variant of the name Odysseus, the legendary hero from Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey. This name can be traced back to the 8th century BC, during the Archaic period of ancient Greece.
The name Odysseus is derived from the Greek verb "odussomai," which means "to be wrathful" or "to hate." It is thought that the name Odessia may have been inspired by this root, suggesting a strong-willed or fierce personality. Alternatively, some scholars believe that the name could be related to the Greek word "odios," meaning "hostile" or "hateful."
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Odessia can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Plutarch, who lived in the 1st century AD. He referred to a woman named Odessia who was a prominent figure in the city of Sparta.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Odessia. One such person was Odessia of Thessaly (c. 350 BC), a renowned physician and philosopher who made significant contributions to the field of medicine during the Hellenistic period.
Another famous Odessia was Odessia of Corinth (c. 200 AD), a celebrated poet and playwright whose works, unfortunately, have been lost to time. However, her name is mentioned in the writings of various ancient scholars and historians.
In the Middle Ages, Odessia of Constantinople (c. 1050 AD) was a prominent Byzantine scholar and translator who played a crucial role in preserving and disseminating Greek literature and philosophy during the height of the Byzantine Empire.
During the Renaissance period, Odessia Veronese (1445-1517) was an Italian painter and poet who gained recognition for her vibrant and expressive works, which were heavily influenced by the artistic styles of the time.
In more recent history, Odessia Nabokov (1903-1991) was a Russian-American writer and the wife of the renowned author Vladimir Nabokov. She played a significant role in supporting her husband's literary endeavors and preserving his literary legacy.
While the name Odessia has its roots in ancient Greek culture, it has been adopted and used in various contexts throughout history, reflecting the enduring influence of Greek language and mythology on Western civilization.
People
Odessia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Odessia 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
Odessia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Odessia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 115 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Odessia 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 2,980,473 US residents.
Is Odessia a common name?
We classify Odessia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 601 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Odessia most popular?
The single biggest year for Odessia was 1922, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Odessia is about 78 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Odessia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 147 people with the name Odessia, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,869 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 Odessia 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 Odessia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Odessia appears almost entirely female. Of the 147 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Odessia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Odessia is Black at 76.2%. The next largest groups are White (19.0%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.0%). 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 Odessia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Odessia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.2% (112 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 Odessia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Odessia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Odessia 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 Odessia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Odessia 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 Odessia 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 many people are named Odessia?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.