Otten
A West Germanic patronymic surname meaning “son of Otto” or “belonging to Otto.”
The #7,561 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 70,233 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Otten is generally a patronymic formed from the short personal name Otte or Otto, with the ending -en used in some German and Dutch naming traditions to mark descent or family connection. In that sense, the surname originally meant something like “of Otto” or “Otto’s son/descendant.” The personal name Otto goes back to older Germanic names built on a root meaning “wealth,” “prosperity,” or “fortune.”
History
The sources place Otten among Germanic family names, especially in Frisian, Dutch, and northwestern German areas. It is the kind of surname that could arise independently in several places wherever Otto/Otte was a common given name. Later, the name spread beyond its original regions through migration, so modern bearers may have German, Dutch, or Frisian ancestry.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Historical surname studies note that names like Otten are often patronymics in the nominative-looking form, not always with an obvious genitive ending.
From the historical record
“etc.; sometimes intended as a dim. of an Ot-, Od-, etc., name] Ich wolt hern Otten milte nach der lenge mezzen. — Walther von der Vogel- weide, ' Otto und Friedrich,' i. OTTWAY 1 (Teut.) for the Teut. Otwig =”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)