Otto?

[doliketobebesidetheseaside]

Expecting a baby boy and have started thinking about the name Otto.

The baby will have dual British/Austrian citizenship and a Germanic sounding surname, but we live in the UK and parents/grandparents were all born and raised here.

We’re also aware that Otto is seen as very old fashioned in German-speaking countries..!

Would love to know:

1. your thoughts on the name Otto?

2. whether you would use it if you had an obviously Germanic surname (but didn’t actually live there/have family connections etc still there)?

Thanks in advance!

I really like it.

It's nice.

Love it, but then I like old fashioned names and like the fact there won’t be 29 other Ottos in a class of 30.

I know an Otto in the UK (in his 30s, also Germanic background).

I like it - as an English person with no other heritage I’d feel a bit weird using it myself and would assume Germanic heritage, so if that’s you I think go for it!

my daughter has a top 100 name originally from another country (going against what I’ve said above😂😂😂 though it’s popular/mainstream enough to count as ‘English’ now) which I am told is considered very ‘old lady’ in the original country, but there’s hundreds of little girls in this country with it and I doubt many old ladies. No one in this country will know it’s considered old fashioned in Germany is my point.

Otto is handsome. Yes, use it. I also like Olaf.

As a fellow German speaker- use it, it's lovely and will sound good in both countries. Excellent choice!

Sorry but Otto sounds comical in Germany. It's old fashioned and very uncool. Maybe like Nigel or Clive.

Yes Otto. Cool. I went to school with a boy called Otto. All the girls liked him.

Love it!

It's such an adorable name I love it

Great name

It's fine - just don't name a sister Ottilie!

We are in a Naice bit of SW London, and Otto is quite a popular name here

I would put it in the same category as Wilf and Ludo - slightly Germanic, popular with the upper middles, timeless

I love it! Different but not too much so.
I think it suits a boy and a man.

Lovely name.

I love the name Otto!

I love it. Vogue William's little boy is called Otto.

I love Otto. I also like Axel, Stefan, Felix, Maxim.

Love the name Otto! It would have been DD2’s name if she had been a boy.

It always makes me think of Nazis, I know it shouldn’t but it does. Other German names don’t.

It’s popular though..

Def makes me think of Nazis - why is that? Was there a famous German Nazi called Otto?

It’s def climbing in popularity, trending, it’s like Casper, Felix etc

Ann Frank’s father was Otto Frank. Not a Nazi though obviously.

Lovely name.

Very reminiscent of elderly Germans with big moustaches!

But at the same time, I quite like it.

I love the name Otto. It sounds great and looks really good written down too. We are a British/German bilingual family expecting a boy and also considering using this name. I know it's seen as old fashioned in Germany but although we speak the language and visit Germany often, our child will live here. Finding a name that works in both languages is tricky (I like Casper but with the K spelling it means clown/Jester in German) also pronunciation can really differ in the two languages (names with J's and I's for example). I find the nazi comments odd tbh, I think some Brits have a bit of obsession with ww2 and have watched too many old films.