Odette
A feminine name of French origin meaning "wealthy".
Name Census estimates that about 2,902 living Americans carry the first name Odette. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Odette today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Odette births was 2024 (193 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Odette. 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 Odette with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.9K
~ 1 in 118,110 Americans
Peak year
2024
193 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,220
Tracked since 1894
Census
Odette in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,424 people with the first name Odette, which placed it at #4,293 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
#4,293
National first-name rank
People counted
4.4K
4,424 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
37.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Odette
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Odette is White at 37.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (30.4%) and Black (24.7%). 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 Odette 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 Odette at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White37.1% · 1,642
- Hispanic or Latino30.4% · 1,347
- Black or African American24.7% · 1,092
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.6% · 205
- Two or more races2.8% · 122
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 16
Popularity
Odette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Odette from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 850 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Odette 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 Odette during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Odettes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Odette, while Nevada, Minnesota, Idaho recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 71 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Odette
The name Odette has its origins in the French language. It is a diminutive form of the Germanic name Oda, derived from the Old German word "od" meaning "prosperous" or "wealthy". The name Odette is thought to have emerged in the Middle Ages, particularly in France and surrounding regions.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Odette can be found in the 12th-century French courtly romance "Le Chevalier de la Charrete" by Chrétien de Troyes. In this work, Odette is depicted as a maiden who assists the knight Lancelot in his quest to rescue the imprisoned Queen Guinevere.
During the 13th century, the name Odette gained popularity in parts of northern France and the Low Countries. Historical records from this period mention several noblewomen bearing this name, including Odette de Champdivers (1220-1279), a French noblewoman and landowner.
Odette also appears in various literary works throughout history. In the 19th century, the name was famously used for the character Odette de Cygne in the ballet "Swan Lake" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. This Odette is a princess who is transformed into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse.
Other notable individuals named Odette include Odette Annable (born 1985), an American actress known for her roles in television series such as "Supergirl" and "Cloverfield". Odette Sansom (1912-1995) was a French World War II heroine and recipient of the George Cross for her work as a member of the Special Operations Executive.
Odette Joyeux (1914-2000) was a French film actress who appeared in over 50 movies throughout her career, while Odette Nicoletti (1892-1961) was a French painter and engraver associated with the Fauvism movement. Odette Rodin (1856-1924) was the wife and muse of the famous French sculptor Auguste Rodin.
People
Odette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Odette 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
Odette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Odette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,902 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Odette 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 118,110 US residents.
Is Odette a common name?
We classify Odette as "Rare". It ranks above 95.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,933 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Odette most popular?
The single biggest year for Odette was 2024, when 193 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Odette is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Odette in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,424 people with the name Odette, or 1.46 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,293 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 Odette 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 Odette?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Odette appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,420 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Odette?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Odette is White at 37.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (30.4%) and Black (24.7%). 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 Odette most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Odette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 37.1% (1,642 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 Odette in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Odette a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Odette 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 Odette still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Odette 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 Odette 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 share the name Odette?
Find out how many Americans are named Odette on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.