Otis
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a surname transferred from the given name, notably of the American revolutionary hero James Otis and the innovator and industrialist Elisha Otis. A patronymic surname derived from Middle English genitive case of the Germanic given name Ote, Ode, cognate to modern Otto.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Otis (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Otis has been rising over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2021. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | 4 |
| 2005 | 6 |
| 2006 | 8 |
| 2007 | 10 |
| 2008 | 18 |
| 2009 | 26 |
| 2010 | 27 |
| 2011 | 33 |
| 2012 | 45 |
| 2013 | 36 |
| 2014 | 67 |
| 2015 | 61 |
| 2016 | 62 |
| 2017 | 65 |
| 2018 | 74 |
| 2019 | 109 |
| 2020 | 134 |
| 2021 | 149 |
| 2022 | 139 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | 11 |
| 2001 | 15 |
| 2002 | 17 |
| 2003 | 21 |
| 2004 | 25 |
| 2005 | 30 |
| 2006 | 37 |
| 2007 | 47 |
| 2008 | 64 |
| 2009 | 91 |
| 2010 | 119 |
| 2011 | 153 |
| 2012 | 202 |
| 2013 | 237 |
| 2014 | 304 |
| 2015 | 366 |
| 2016 | 429 |
| 2017 | 494 |
| 2018 | 575 |
| 2019 | 684 |
| 2020 | 823 |
Otis in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Otis.Hi! My name is Otis.
- Otis har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Otis has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Jag ska fika med Otis i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Otis this afternoon.
- Otis mamma är lärare.Otis's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Otis mamma is Otis's mum. Because Otis already ends in s, nothing is added.
More names
Questions about Otis
How do you pronounce Otis in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Otis in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Otis mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a surname transferred from the given name, notably of the American revolutionary hero James Otis and the innovator and industrialist Elisha Otis. A patronymic surname derived from Middle English genitive case of the Germanic given name Ote, Ode, cognate to modern Otto.
How popular is Otis in Sweden?
139 babies were named Otis in 2022. In 2020, 823 people in Sweden had Otis as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been rising lately and peaked in 2021 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.