Editor’s note: This post was originally published on July 10, 2008. It was substantially revised & republished on September 24, 2012.
She’s an intriguing blend of clunky medieval appellation and current français style.
Thanks to Lola for suggesting a rare gem indeed for today’s Baby Name of the Day: Ottilie.
Ottilie is unusual in recent decades, but she once ranked in the US Top 1000. Circa 1890, she kept company with other now near-extinct appellations: Zenobia, Eulalie, Rosamund, Tilda. Once she must have sounded uncommon but not outlandish.
Today she’s something of a daring pick. Ottilie last appeared in the US Top 1000 in 1905. She was given to fewer than five girls in 2011, though Otilia and Odelia just snuck into the charts.
This is yet another variation of the Germanic Odo, meaning wealth or fortune, the ancestor of plenty of names:
- The palindrome Otto
- Jazzy Otis
- Odilia was an 8th century nun, said to have been born blind, but had her sight miraculously restored during her baptism.
- Odile (pronounced oh DEEL) and Odette (oh DET) both appear in the ballet Swan Lake. Odette is the virtuous princess, and Odile the villain – but somehow I think Odile is the more wearable name circa 2012.
- Ottoline is another possibility, as in the eccentric Lady Ottoline Morrell, known for hosting some of the leading thinkers in the World War I and post-war era in England.
In recent centuries several smart and artistic Ottilies have made their mark:
- German feminist writer and abolitionist Ottilie Assing had a long and tumultuous affair with Frederick Douglass.
- German actress Ottilie Godeffroy appeared on screen in silent films as Tilla Durieux.
- Ottilie Metzger was a Frankfurt-born opera singer well known in the early 1900s.
- Irish born jazz singer Ottilie Patterson is probably the last of the well known bearers of the name, with her career at its peak in the 1950s and 60s. She was actually born Anna Ottilie, but dropped her first name.
19th century Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson even penned a short poem To Ottilie. It’s not clear who the inspiration was for the poem’s name; Stevenson’s wife went by the humble moniker Fanny. Still, it lends the name a bit of literary cred.
Truman Capote gave the name to a prostitute in his novella House of Flowers. In 1971’s Quest for Love – a relatively forgettable sci fi flick – Joan Collins played a character called Ottilie. Neither use had a lasting impact.
To most Americans, sounds a little bit French, something like Rosalie and Coralie. While she isn’t unknown in France, Ottilie is definitely more common in German-speaking countries, where she’s actually pronounced oh TEEL ee ah.
The one place Ottilie is a smash hit is amongst name aficionados. Rowan at Eponymia gave the name to a daughter. So did Bewildertrix, the fabulous name blogger who went offline a few years ago.
If you love the idea of Tillie or Tilly but aren’t wild about Matilda, then Ottilie could be the name for you. She’s an unusual choice, a little bit clunky, a little bit pretty – and that makes for a winning combination, the kind we expect to see in the London Telegraph birth announcements.
My Opa was an Otto. We’re expecting number three (another April baby!), and while Otto itself is on our shortlist should the baby be a boy, Ottilie is on our longlist for a potential girl.
In the novel Lord Attenbury’s Emeralds Jill Paton Walsh named one of her characters Ottilie. The mystery was a recreation of the Lord Peter Wimsey world originally created by Dorothy L. Sayers.
My mother’s maiden name means “Otto’s Son”, so Otto made my short list for middle names, until I realized Peter’s initials would have been P.O.S.
I’ve always loved Ottilie (and “O” names in general.) With it’s similarity to Natalie, I like that Ottilie feels familiar, but it’s actually really rare… exactly my style. It’s too bad I could never sell the name to my other half.
Heh, I had this name on my long list for a girl (spelled Othilie), and it didn’t go over well with the few people I mentioned it to. It’s one of those names that sounds better said with a British accent, because Americans and Canadians tend to lose the crispness of the T sound and instead say something that sounds like Oddily or Oddly.
I think it’s a name that’s pretty in the abstract but perhaps not all that practical in the North American context.
Ditto this. I love the way it looks and feels and if I were British I might seriously consider it. Unfortunately the way I pronounce it sounds like Oddily and that just doesn’t work.
I wonder if it can be spelled Ottilia? It sounds very pretty.
Hmm. Maybe I’m pronouncing Ottilie different from the rest of you. I say “OH tih lee” or “oh tih LEE”. To me it’s not clunky, has nothing to do with the sound of words like oddity. I came across a relative in my genealogy, early part of the 20th century, named Otelia. This I would pronounce ‘oh TEAL ya’ but her name was sometimes written as Odelie. But I don’t know how she said it. I would say that “OH da lee” or possibly “oh DEAL ee”. I think it’s a great name. Very uncommon. I loved learning that it comes from the same source as Otto. Tilly is a cute nn. I like Tilly as a name on its own as well.
Obviously I love this one — my Ottilie is most frequently called Otts or Til.
Ottilie is one of my favourite names. A character in the opera “Ariadne auf Naxos” is called Ottonie. This might be an interesting alternative.
I love 3 syllable names, as they flow well with my simple last name. I think Ottilie is a fresh alternative to all the other ee names and I would seriously consider it. Also, I think “Lottie” would be a great nn for Ottilie.
Marcia Gay Harden has a Eulalia, with an A at the end. 🙂 Thanks for making her the NotD! I look forward to it.
Sorry about the Basil drama! I would never, ever, ever close for comments! Intentionally. 😮
Fawlty Towers – d’oh! Completely forgot about Fawlty Towers!
Eulalie will be August 5 and Zuleika August 9. There’s a celeb with a baby Eulalie, but I can’t recall *who* it is at the moment. Zuleika, though – that’s gonna be a wild one!