The Otter surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 1,331 people carried this name — #20,076 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 222,200 people counted. That is up 8% from 1,238 in 2000.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
178 people named Otter live in Switzerland.
They live in 13 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
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 154 people named Otter.
6 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 17 départements, most often Haut-Rhin.
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 Poland’s population register
22 people named Otter have a registered home in Poland.
They live in 3 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Greater Poland.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In the Nordic population registers
230 people named Otter is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Otter.
- 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
- Otten 4,396 · U.S. census
- Ottinger 3,112 · U.S. census
- Ottino 248 · U.S. census
- Ottmann 166 · U.S. census
- Otto 22,558 · U.S. census
- Ou 4,196 · U.S. census
- Oudin 126 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Otter 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.