Odessa

Odessa: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning: “long journey”
Origin: Greek
Say it: oh-DESS-uh · 3 syllables
Used for: Girls

Usually taken as a place-name use of Odessa, the Black Sea city. The city name is probably a learned classical formation influenced by Greek Odysseia, linked with Odysseus. The origin of this name is not settled among etymologists.

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How popular is Odessa?

202440.0 per million US babies

Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Compare with another name

Babies named Odessa in 2024133

2024 rank#1,576 girls

Peak year1908

Total US babies since 188018,526

Odessa is rising: use over the last five years is 2.7× what it was a decade earlier.

Names like Odessa

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

Sophiawisdom · Greek
Sofiawisdom · Greek
Chloeyoung green shoot · Greek
Zoelife · Greek
Penelopeweaver; duck · Greek
Elenabright, shining light · Greek
Genesisorigin; creation; birth · Greek
Zoeylife · Greek

Odessa questions

What does the name Odessa mean?

Odessa means "long journey". It comes from Greek. Usually taken as a place-name use of Odessa, the Black Sea city. The city name is probably a learned classical formation influenced by Greek Odysseia, linked with Odysseus.

Is Odessa a boy or girl name?

Odessa is mainly a girl's name in US records (99% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Odessa?

133 US babies were named Odessa in 2024. Its peak year was 1908.

How do you pronounce Odessa?

Odessa is usually pronounced oh-DESS-uh.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.