How rare is the name Odessa?

5,909 people in the United States have the first name Odessa, about 1 in 51,114. It ranks #3,506 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

ODESSA

#3,506

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
5,909
About
1 in 51,114
This common or more
82.5%
Who bears it

Of the 5,909 people named Odessa, 54.1% reported their origin as Black, 30.1% as White and 6.1% as Hispanic or Latino. 99% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Odessa peaked in 1920, when 470 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1920
Births that year
470
In 2025*
193 ▼59%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 18,718 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Odessa by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1900s, when it ranked #469. The largest share of babies named Odessa, 41.3%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#838204
1890s#631508
1900s#4691,188
1910s#5553,120
1920s#6064,180
1930s#7672,448
1940s#1,0421,713
1950s#1,5401,182
1960s#2,181683
1970s#2,951505
1980s#3,739439
1990s#4,494463
2000s#5,090544
2010s#4,339734
2020s#2,900807
Before 19014.3%
Greatest Generation 1901–2741.3%
Silent Generation 1928–4522.5%
Baby boom 1946–6411.8%
Generation X 1965–804.4%
Millennials 1981–963.8%
Generation Z 1997–124.5%
2013 and later7.5%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Odessa is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Odessa has been most common in Mississippi (6.4×), Arkansas (5.2×), and Alabama (4.6×), and least common in Michigan (0.15×).

12,558 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Odessa

#3,504 Draven · 5,912#3,505 Ephraim · 5,911#3,507 Nery · 5,900#3,508 Simona · 5,896

Spelled almost the same

One first name in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Odessa, most common first.

#45,829 Odessia · 147

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