Name Awesome

Othello

#9,472 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Diminutive of Otho

Othello has been given to 803 babies in the U.S. since 1913. In 2025 it ranked #9,472 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1923, with 16 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 86% boys, 14% girls all-time.

Babies named Othello, 2025

1 in 414,000

Othello over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
0510152018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Othello over time

In 2025, Othello went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19052025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Othello: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Otho

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Othello means

Othello is a diminutive of Otho.

Origin, language, and formation

Othello is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Otho.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Othello is pronounced /əˈθɛloʊ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 687 boys were recorded with the name Othello between 1913 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 16 in 1923; its best national rank was #1,842 in 1914.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #6,922 in 2020 to #9,472 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #11,720 in 2015 to #9,472 in 2025.

In the United States, 116 girls were recorded with the name Othello between 1905 and 1930. Its highest annual count was 10 in 1919; its best national rank was #2,044 in 1908.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Othello?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 414,000
8 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 213,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#9,472
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
287,238 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Othello sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 287,238 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Othello. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Othellos were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Othello was born before 1966 — so the typical Othello is around 59 today.

Median birth year
1966
About 59 years old
Biggest decade
1920s
13.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
29.4%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
421
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1920s — 13.2% of all recorded uses (91).

Is Othello rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−3,642
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−2,550
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+2,248
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.33×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
50.0%
Peak was 1923 (16)
Years since peak
102
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
27.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,842
1914

Spellings of Othello

Othello is not the most common spelling — Othel is, with 51.6% against Othello's 48.4%.

  • Othel51.6%732
  • Othello48.4%687

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Othello is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Othello was most concentrated in Texas — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 2,210,576 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Othello has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Othello is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Othello was most concentrated in Texas — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 2,456,184 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Othello has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Othello around the world

Where Othello ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2020–2023
    #4,992
    in 2023
  • France
    1969–2008
    #4,048
    in 2008
  • Canada
    2021–2021
    #2,989
    in 2021

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Statistics Canada. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Othello by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#9,472
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 2,550
Best rank ever
#1,842
1914
Peak year
1923
16 that year
First recorded
1913
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
687
Count in 2025
8

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#2,044
1908
Peak year
1919
10 that year
First recorded
1905
Last recorded
1930
All-time count
116
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Othello

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

OthnielOthmanAngelloCamilloKarmelloDialloRomelloAnielloOthelRoemelloRolloDonatelloCarmelloOthmarOthellRamelloOtherOthalMarchelloMarcelloNelloCostelloApolloOthar

Sibling names for Othello

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Othello

Top names of 1923, Othello's peak yearThe 1920s in fullOther names that peaked in 1914Boys' names starting with O