Odell

Meaning of Odell

Odell (oh-DEL /oʊˈdɛl/) is a masculine given name of English locational origin, derived from the Old English elements wād, “woad,” and hyll, “hill,” and originally recorded as a surname denoting residence near a woad-bearing elevation in Northamptonshire before its adoption as a forename in Anglo-American contexts. As a transferred surname, it exemplifies the nineteenth-century convention of employing family names as given names—a practice that has continued, with Odell maintaining moderate but steady usage in the United States. U.S. Social Security Administration data reveal annual occurrences ranging from the low teens to mid-thirties between 2010 and 2024, corresponding to rankings approximately between 887 and 922; earlier in the twentieth century, the name achieved higher placement—as high as the mid-300s in the 1940s—before experiencing a gradual attenuation in prevalence. The prosodic profile remains consistent across British and American English, with the primary stress on the second syllable, thereby facilitating its integration within transatlantic naming environments. Although Odell’s frequency prevents it from being categorized as ubiquitous, its association with notable bearers such as professional athlete Odell Beckham Jr. underscores the interplay between individual prominence and the name’s enduring historical and geographic associations.