Entry № 1895 · French, Germanic origin

Odette Odette — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ oh-DET /
Gender
Girl
Origin
French, Germanic
Meaning
"Wealth / fortune (Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, Princess Odette)"
Syllables
2
Rank · US 2025
№ 720
First recorded
Medieval (French)

A name that means "wealth / fortune (tchaikovsky's swan lake, princess odette)".

Odette is the French diminutive of Oda — from the Old Germanic *aud* ("wealth, prosperity, fortune"). **A top-1000 US baby name since 2013**. **Princess Odette** — heroine of Tchaikovsky's ballet **Swan Lake (1877)**, premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre — the most-performed ballet in the classical repertoire worldwide. **Cursed by the sorcerer von Rothbart to live as a white swan by day and a woman only at night, Odette can be saved only by true love; the dual role of Odette/Odile (the Black Swan, her dark mirror) is among the most-demanding female roles in classical ballet — most prima ballerinas in history have performed it including Anna Pavlova, Maya Plisetskaya, Margot Fonteyn, Natalia Makarova, and Misty Copeland**. **The 32 *fouettés en tournant* sequence in the Black Swan coda is considered the most-famous technical feat in classical ballet**. **Odette Sansom (1912-1995)** — French-British World War II spy with the Special Operations Executive; first woman awarded the George Cross (1946); survived Ravensbrück concentration camp; biopic *Odette* (1950) with Anna Neagle. **Odette Annable (born 1985)** — *House M.D.* (2007-2008); *Pretty Little Liars* (2017-2019). **Odette Holiday** — *Modern Family* recurring. **Odette Yustman** is Odette Annable.

Featured throughout classical ballet and 20th-century history.

Wealth / fortune. The White Swan in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake (1877) — the most-performed ballet worldwide.

The name in its native script.

Odette
Transliteration
Odette
Pronunciation
/ oʊˈdɛt /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Odette stands.

Current rank · 2025
№ 720 in the U.S.
All-time peak
№ 720 in 2024
Babies named Odette · last year
380 in the U.S.
First entered SSA top-1000
2013
Rank, 1995–2025 Lower = more popular
№25 №75 №150 №250 1995 2005 2015 2020 2025 PEAK · #720 NOW · #720

Odettes before her.

Real people
Odette Sansom
French-British WWII spy.
1912 – 1995
Odette Annable
American actress.
born 1985
In fiction
Odette
Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.
1877

Names connected to Odette.

The number behind Odette.

9

The Humanitarian

Odette reduces to nine — the number of Swan Lake.

Why families chose this name.

"Swan Lake's fortune. Six letters. Odette."
Sophie · Mother of one · St. Petersburg