Odessa

Ukrainian place-name

Odessa Origin and Meaning

The name Odessa is a girl's name of Russian origin.

Odessa, a Ukrainian port city, was given its name by Catherine the Great, who was inspired by Homer's Odyssey. It would make an original and intriguing choice.

Though rare today, Odessa had more U.S. popularity in the past than you might imagine. It actually ranked in the Top 1000 every year from 1880, the year Social Security records began to be kept, through 1956. Then anti-Russian sentiment during the Cold War took it off the table. Michael Chiklis, onetime Commish, has a daughter named Odessa.

# 959 in the US

Odessa Rank in US Top 1000

# 366 on Nameberry

Odessa Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Odessa Popularity

Famous People Named Odessa

  • Odessa Cleveland
    American actress
  • Odessa Warren Grey
    American milliner, entrepreneur, and performer
  • Odessa Lee Grady Clay
    mother of American boxer Muhammad Ali
  • Odessa Young
    Australian actress
  • Odessa Zion Segall Adlon
    also known as Odessa A'zion, actress and daughter of Pamela Adlon
  • Odessa Chiklis
    daughter of actor Michael Chiklis
  • Odessa Piper
    chef
  • Jennifer Odessa Nettles
    lead singer of American country band Sugarland

Odessa in Pop Culture

  • Odessa Green
    Light, main character in "Odessa Again" by Dana Reinhardt
  • Odessa Cubbage
    minor character in video game "Half,Life 2"
  • Odessa Dobson
    a character in TV movie The Spoils of Babylon
  • Odessa
    character in the fantasy series Etheria
  • Odessa
    recurring character on Into the Badlands
  • Odessa
    song by Caribou