The Otero surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 20,937 people carried this name — #1,716 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 14,100 people counted. That is up 23% from 16,956 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Otero surname
Borrowed from Spanish Otero, from otero (“hillock”).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Otero» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 17,770 people named Otero live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
382 people named Otero live in Switzerland.
They live in 18 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Geneva.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 125 people named Otero.
48 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 28 départements, most often Seine-Maritime.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In print
Otero in American newspapers,
1845–1963.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 117,073 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Otero,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Miguel Otero 1790–1874 · politician -
Hipólito Otero 1811–1885 · physician -
Mariano Otero 1817–1850 · lawyer -
Miguel Antonio Otero 1829–1882 · lawyer -
Mariano S. Otero 1844–1904 · judge
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 182 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Otero.
- Oster 6,259 · U.S. census
- Ostermann 956 · U.S. census
- Ostertag 969 · U.S. census
- Ostin 164 · U.S. census
- Ostrowski 7,005 · U.S. census
- Oswald 14,322 · U.S. census
- Othon 452 · U.S. census
- Ott 25,738 · U.S. census
- Otta 153 · U.S. census
- Ottaviani 382 · U.S. census
- Ottaviano 1,023 · U.S. census
- Otte 4,387 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Otero is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.