Otto is a masculine German given name and a

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

. It originates as an

Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded from the 7th century ( Odo, son of Uro, courtier of

Sigebert III Sigebert III ( 630–656) was the Merovingian dynasty, Merovingian king of Austrasia from 633 to his death around 656. He was described as the first Merovingian ''roi fainéant'', or "do-nothing king", with the mayor of the palace in fact ruling ...

). It was the name of three 10th-century German kings, the first of whom was Otto I the Great, the first

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

, founder of the Ottonian dynasty. The Gothic form of the prefix was ''auda-'' (as in e.g. '' Audaþius''), the Anglo-Saxon form was ''ead-'' (as in e.g. '' Eadmund''), and the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

form was '' auð-''. Due to

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

, the given name ''Otto'' was strongly associated with the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

in the later 19th century. It was comparatively frequently given in the United States (presumably in German American families) during the 1880s to 1890s, remaining in the top 100 most popular masculine given names in the US throughout 1880–1898, but its popularity decreased significantly after 1900 with increasing

anti-German sentiment Anti-German sentiment (also known as anti-Germanism, Germanophobia or Teutophobia) is fear or dislike of Germany, its Germans, people, and its Culture of Germany, culture. Its opposite is Germanophile, Germanophilia. Anti-German sentiment main ...

leading up to World War I; it fell below rank 200 in 1919, below rank 500 in 1947, and below rank 1000 in 1975. It re-entered the top-1000 most popular given names in the US in the 2010s, ranking 696th as of 2013.US statistics (behindthename.com)
The given name Otis arose from an English surname, which was in turn derived from ''Ode'', a variant form of ''Odo, Otto''.

People

Medieval period

* Otto (mayor of the palace) (died 643 or 644), mayor of the palace of

Austrasia Austrasia was the northeastern kingdom within the core of the Francia, Frankish Empire during the Early Middle Ages, centring on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers. It included the original Frankish-ruled territories within what had ...

briefly in the mid-7th century *

Otto I, Duke of Saxony Otto ( – 30 November 912), called the Illustrious () by later authors, was a notable member of the Ottonian dynasty and Duke of Saxony from 880 until his death in 912. He played an important role in early medieval history of Germany during the ...

(851–912) *

Otto the Great Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), known as Otto the Great ( ) or Otto of Saxony ( ), was East Frankish ( German) king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the eldest son of Henry the Fowler and Matilda ...

(912–973), East Frankish king and Holy Roman Emperor *

Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy. Otto II was ...

(955–983) *

Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was cro ...

(980–1002) *

Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV (1175 – 19 May 1218) was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until his death in 1218. Otto spent most of his early life in England and France. He was a follower of his uncle Richard the Lionheart, who made him Count of Poitou in 1196 ...

(1175/1176–1218) *

Otto, Count of Cleves Otto (1278 – October 29, 1310) was Count of Cleves from 1305 through 1310. Otto was the eldest son of Dietrich VII, Count of Cleves (1256–1305) and his first wife Margaret of Guelders. His first marriage was to Adelheid van der Marck, dau ...

(1278–1310) *

Otto, Count of Lippe-Brake Otto, Count of Lippe-Brake (21 December 1589 – 18 November 1657 in Blomberg) was the first ruling Count of Lippe-Brake. Life Otto was born on 21 December 1589 as the son of Count Simon VI and his wife, Countess Elisabeth of Holstein-S ...

(1589–1657) *

Otto, Duke of Lolland and Estonia Otto of Denmark (c. 1310 – after 1346) () was a Danish prince who was also Duke of Lolland and Estonia. He was the second son of King Christopher II of Denmark and Euphemia of Pomerania. In his childhood his older brother Eric had been el ...

(1310–1346) * Otto, Count of Looz (fl. 980-1000) * Otto, Count of Vermandois (979–1045) * Otto, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (1594–1617) * Otto, Lord of Arkel (1330–1396) * Otto, Lord of Lippe (1300–1360) * Otto, Margrave of the Nordmark (died 1057) * Otto of Bamberg (1060/1061–1139), bishop and Catholic saint * Otto of Freising (c. 1114–1158), bishop and chronicler

Modern era

* Otto of Greece (1815–1867), King of Greece * Otto, King of Bavaria (1848–1916), King of Bavaria * Otto Adler (1929–2014), president of the Jewish Association of Romania * Otto T. Bannard (1854–1929), American attorney, businessman and philanthropist * Otto Barić (1933–2020), Croatian footballer and manager * Otto Brandenburg (1934–2007), Danish musician, singer and actor * Otto Carius (1922–2015), German tank ace and pharmacist * Otto Diels (1876–1954), German chemist * Otto Dix (1891–1969), German painter and printmaker * Otto Dowling (1881–1946), governor of American Samoa * Otto Eloluoto (born 2008), Finnish footballer * Otto Farrant, British actor * Otto Fischer (footballer) (1901–1941), Austrian football player and coach * Otto Floto (1863–1929), American sports journalist * Otto Förschner (1902–1946), German Nazi SS concentration camp commandant * Otto Frank (1889–1980), German-born Swiss businessman, father of Anne Frank * Otto Freundlich (1878–1943), German painter and sculptor * Otto Graham (1921–2003), professional American football and basketball player * Otto Graf Lambsdorff (1926–2009), German politician * Otto Grotewohl (1894–1964), East German politician * Otto Gutekunst (1866–1947), British art dealer * Otto Hahn (1879–1968), German chemist * Otto Hautamo (born 2002), Finnish footballer * Otto Herschmann (1877–1942), Austrian fencer and swimmer * Otto Hindrich (born 2002), Romanian footballer * Otto Kemppainen (born 2003), Finnish footballer * Otto Klemperer (1885–1973), German-born conductor and composer * Otto Knows (born 1989), Swedish DJ * Otto Koivula (born 1998), Finnish ice hockey player * Ottó Komoly (1892–1945) Hungarian humanitarian, engineer, officer and Zionist * Otto Kraushaar (1901–1989), American academic * Otto Kretschmer (1912–1998), German World War II U-boat captain * Otto Lehtisalo (born 2004), Finnish footballer * Otto Lietchen (1887–1977), American politician * Otto Lilienthal (1848–1896), German aviator * Otto Ludvig Beckman (1856–1909), Swedish major general * Otto Lybeck (1871–1947), Swedish Navy admiral * Otto Mahler (1873–1895), Bohemian-Austrian composer, brother of Gustav Mahler * Otto Mears (1840–1931), Russian-American road and railway builder * Otto Moll (1915–1946), German SS-Hauptscharführer at Auschwitz concentration camp * Otto Ohlendorf (1907–1951), German SS general and Holocaust perpetrator * Otto Maximiliano Pereira de Cordeiro Ferreira (born 1968), Brazilian singer-songwriter, drummer and TV presenter * Otto Peterson (1960–2014), American comedian * Otto Petrén (1912–1990), Swedish jurist * Otto Porter (born 1993), American basketball player * Otto Planetta (1899–1934), Austrian Nazi Waffen-SS who murdered Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss * Otto Plath (1885–1940), entomologist, father of American poet Sylvia Plath * Otto Pohla (1899–1941), Estonian wrestler *

Otto Preminger Otto Ludwig Preminger ( ; ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian Americans, Austrian-American film and theatre director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the the ...

(1905–1986), Austro–Hungarian-born American film director * Otto Rehhagel (born 1938), German football coach * Otto Ruoppi (born 2006), Finnish footballer *

Otto Sigfrid Reuter Otto Sigfrid Reuter (2 September 1876 – 5 April 1945) was a German writer and organiser who was central in the Modern paganism, neopagan current within the Völkisch movement, ''völkisch'' movement. He had a career in telecommunications and bega ...

(1876–1945), German ''völkisch''-religious ideologue * Otto Salmensuu (born 2004), Finnish footballer * Otto Sauter-Sarto (1884–1958), German actor * Otto Scheff (1889–1956), Austrian swimmer * Otto Schily (born 1932), German politician * Otto Schmitt (field hockey) (born 1965), Argentine field hockey player * Otto Skorzeny (1908–1975), Austrian-born Waffen-SS commando * Otto Sohn-Rethel (1877–1949), German painter and lepidopterist * Otto Soglow (1900–1975), American cartoonist * Otto Strandman (1875–1941), Estonian politician, Prime Minister in 1919, head of state 1929–1931 * Otto Tief (1889–1976), Estonian politician, military commander, lawyer, Prime Minister * Otto Toeplitz (1881–1940), German mathematician, specialized in functional analysis * Otto van Verschuer (1927–2014), Dutch politician * Otto Christian Archibald von Bismarck (1897–1975), German politician and diplomat *

(1815–1898), Prussian/German statesman * Otto von Habsburg (1912–2011), head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine from 1922 to 2007 * Otto Waalkes (born 1948), German comedian and actor * Otto Wagner (1841–1918), Austrian architect * Otto Wahle (1879–1963), American swimmer * Otto F. Walter (1928–1994), Swiss journalist, author and publisher * Otto Warmbier (1994–2017), American student imprisoned in North Korea * Otto Weininger (1880–1903), Austrian philosopher * Otto Wichterle (1913–1998), Czech chemist, inventor soft contact lenses * Otto S. Wolfbeis (1947–2023), German chemist

Fictional characters

* Otto Anderson, protagonist of the 2022 film '' A Man Called Otto'', played by Tom Hanks * Otto Delaney, in the television series '' Sons of Anarchy'' * Herr Otto Flick, in the BBC sitcom '' 'Allo 'Allo!'' * Otto Hightower, in the television series House of the Dragon * Otto Maddox, the main character in the 1984 film '' Repo Man'' * Otto Malpense, the main character in the ''H.I.V.E.'' series by Mark Walden * Otto Mann, in the animated television series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' * Otto Octavius, Marvel Comics supervillain Doctor Octopus * Jake, Jeremiah, and Troy Otto, in the television series ''Fear the Walking Dead'' * Oswald "Otto" Rocket, the main character of Nickelodeon's '' Rocket Power'' * Otto Osworth, the main character of Cartoon Network's '' Time Squad'' * Otto Suwen, in the anime/manga series '' Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World'' * Otto, the inflatable "auto" pilot in the 1980 comedy film ''

Airplane! ''Airplane!'' (alternatively titled ''Flying High!'') is a 1980 American disaster film, disaster comedy film written and directed by Jim Abrahams and brothers David Zucker, David and Jerry Zucker in their List of directorial debuts, directoria ...

'' * Otto West, the main antagonist in the 1988 heist comedy '' A Fish Called Wanda'' * Otto, one of the main Minions in the 2022 animated comedy film '' Minions: The Rise of Gru'' * Ottoriki, one of the main characters in American animated children's television series GoGoRiki * Otto, the friend of Lab Rat in '' SuperKitties'' * Otto, in the children's television series '' Odd Squad'' * Otto, one of the five robot monkeys in the series '' Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!'' * Otto, in the 2024 film '' The Garfield Movie''

References

External links