Odes

♂ Boy

How to Pronounce Odes

Pronounced OHDZ /ˈoʊdz/Medium

Meaning: Odes is a rare, opaque boy's name from the early-twentieth-century American South. It has no clearly documented origin; it may be a short or respelled form of a name like Otis or Odie, or a family coinage. We flag it as uncertain rather than assign a meaning it does not have.Low

In 30 seconds: Odes is a rare, opaque early-1900s boy's name, possibly a short form of Otis or a family coinage. Its origin is uncertain (said OHDZ).

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Origin LowEnglish

MeaningOdes is a rare, opaque boy's name from the early-twentieth-century American South. It has no clearly documented origin; it may be a short or respelled form of a name like Otis or Odie, or a family coinage. We flag it as uncertain rather than assign a meaning it does not have.

U.S. rank (1955)#4235 ↘ Falling

1955 U.S. births5 boys (0.00% of U.S. boys)

Peak year1923

Total births (all-time)≈ 367

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.

History & Origin

Odes appears in United States birth records from the late 1880s, almost entirely in the rural South, with no documented origin. It may be a clipped or respelled form of Otis or Odie, or simply a family coinage of the kind common in that time and place. It was never common, given to only a couple dozen boys a year at its early-1920s high.

A man named Odes from that era would be a great-grandfather today, and the name reads as a rural, early-century one. It has not revived, and its meaning stays genuinely uncertain, which we note rather than invent.

Did you know? Odes is one of those genuinely puzzling record names: it looks like the plural of the poem 'ode,' but the likelier story is a homespun Southern respelling of a name like Otis or Odie.

Overall data confidence 24%

References - Odes — Opaque early-1900s coinage; possible Otis/Odie link; uncertain

Variations

OdieOtisOde

Nicknames

OdeOdie

Famous Bearers

Famous bearers coming soon.

If you like Odes…

Otis— a likely fuller relative of this name

Odie— a close early-century cousin in sound

Dewey— a same-era short rural boy's name

Jiles— shares the -es ending

Hobbes— echoes that soft -es sound

Explore names like Odes

By themeuncertain rare vintage southern

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Frequently Asked

What does the name Odes mean?

Its origin is uncertain; it may be a short or respelled form of Otis or Odie, or a family coinage, so no settled meaning is documented.

How do you pronounce Odes?

It's said OHDZ /ˈoʊdz/, one syllable.

Is Odes a boy or girl name?

Odes is used as a boy's name.

How popular is Odes?

It was always very rare, an early-twentieth-century Southern name given to only a couple dozen boys a year at its peak.