How Many People Are Named Odessa?
An estimated 5,827 people in the United States have the first name Odessa. It is predominantly female (99.2%). The average bearer is 48 years old, and Odessa peaked in popularity in 1920 with 470 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Odessa as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Odessa paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Odessa is overwhelmingly female, 154 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
5,827
About 1 in 58,822 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
99.2% confidence
Average Age
48
years old
Peak Year
1920
470 births
Total Registered
18,526
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Odessa
Odessa is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 18,526 total births registered, 99.2% were female.
Odessa as a male name
Ranked #9,308 in 1998
6 male births in 1998
Peak: 1919 (11 births)
Odessa as a female name
Ranked #1,583 in 2024
133 female births in 2024
Peak: 1920 (464 births)
Odessa: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Odessa span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 4,180 babies were registered. Odessa has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Odessa by Decade
How has Odessa tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Odessa by State
Birth registrations for Odessa span all 35 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, Georgia, North Carolina. The lowest are in New Mexico, Iowa, Nebraska. On average, about 355 Odessas were registered per state.
Odessa + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Odessa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Odessa
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
Odessa: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Odessa?
We estimate approximately 5,827 people named Odessa are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 58,822 Americans share this first name.
Is Odessa a common name?
Odessa is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 96.8% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 18,526 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Odessa most popular?
Odessa reached peak popularity in 1920, when 470 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Odessa is approximately 48 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Odessa a female name?
Odessa is predominantly female. 99.2% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Odessa Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Odessa Smith, Odessa Johnson, Odessa Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
Search for a full name combination
How Many of Me