Odessa
Girl nameOdessa has been given to 18,718 babies in the U.S. since 1880. It peaked in 1920.
Meaning & origin /əʊˈdɛsə/
Borrowed from Russian Оде́сса (Odéssa), named after an Ancient Greek settlement thought to have been located nearby. Ancient Greek Ὀδησσός (Odēssós). Compare Ukrainian Оде́са (Odésa). The city was on the former Turkish territory of Yedisan, which may have influenced the choice of name. Yedisan means "seven titles" i.e. tribes, from yedi + san.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Popularity over time births per year, 1880–2025
Total babies
18,718
Peak year
1920 (470 babies)
Rank in 2025
Below top 1000
First recorded
1880
10-year trend
▲ +157%
Gender split
99% girls / 1% boys
Names with a similar vibe
Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Odessa.
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