Ottilie

 

Actress Ottilie "Tilly" Losch, Countess of Carnavon

Ottilie (oht-ee-lee, oht-il-ee) is a Germanic name with some French flair, from medieval Germanic Odila. There are several other forms of the name, such as Ottilia, Ottilina, Odilia, Odalys, Otylia, Odile, Odette, Oda, and Odelia. From the late German Otto, Ottilie could mean "wealth."

There are several namesakes in various forms, from German opera singers to Romanian actresses. Saint Odilia was an 8th century nun, who was supposedly born blind and began to see once she was baptized. Ottilie Godefroy, aka Tilla Durieux, was an Austrian actress at the beginning of the 20th century. Ottilia Adelborg was a children's book illustrator and artist in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Selma Ottilia Lagerlöf won the 1909 Nobel Prize for literature. Ottilie Losch, Countess of Carnavon, was an Austrian dancer, actress and painter who worked in the U.S. and appeared in films in the 30's and 40's. Ottilie of Katzenelnbogen, born in 1453, daughter of Countess Ottilie of Nassau, had fifteen children. Her first child was also named Ottilie.

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a poem called "To Ottilie." She has also been a character in stories by John Wyndham, Truman Capote and Goethe.

Ottilie last ranked in 1904 at #930, the bottom of the charts. #416 was the highest it got, and that was in 1882, but there were only 20 girls given the name that year. Last recorded in 2009, there were 6 girls named Ottilie, but a drastic difference in what it takes to make the top 1000 (a name has to be given about 230 - 300 times a year to be at the very bottom of the list). Ottilia and Ottilina have not been used since the 20's and 30's.

Nicknames can vary from Ollie to Tillie to Otter.