From Germanic 'ot' meaning 'wealth, prosperity'; popular in German and French tradition.
Ottilie is the French and southern German feminine form of Otto, derived from the Old High German element *aud* or *od*, meaning "wealth," "fortune," or "prosperity." The Frankish and Germanic aristocracies prized this root highly — it appears in names like Audrey, Ottoline, and Odette — and in its feminine form Ottilie it carries a particular elegance that sits somewhere between the stately and the whimsical. The name was common among the medieval nobility of the Rhine and Danube regions, where the Otto dynasty of Holy Roman Emperors made the root almost synonymous with legitimate power.
The name's most celebrated bearer is Saint Odilia of Alsace (also rendered Ottilia or Ottilie), a 7th-century abbess born blind who, according to hagiography, received her sight at the moment of her baptism. She founded the convent of Hohenbourg on a clifftop in the Vosges mountains and became the patron saint of Alsace and of the blind — a figure of miraculous transformation whose legend gave the name a spiritual tenderness to accompany its noble heritage. Goethe brought the name to literary prominence in his 1809 novel *Elective Affinities*, whose tragic heroine Ottilie is one of German literature's most beautiful and melancholy figures, enshrining the name in the Romantic imagination.
Ottilie largely faded from use through the 20th century, which paradoxically makes it irresistible to contemporary parents seeking something genuinely rare yet historically rooted. It has seen quiet revivals in Germany, France, and among English-speaking parents drawn to its Continental sophistication. With its three flowing syllables and its nickname potential — Tilly being an obvious and charming option — Ottilie occupies a very appealing niche: antique but not archaic, distinctive but not invented.