They both sound weighty and classical to me. I don't have a strong preference.
I tend to like Iris or Gwen / Gwendolen with Octavia. I also like it with names I associate with green, like Emerald, so June works. I associate Octavia with Rome, architecture, and the number 8, which I associate with infinity and stark contrasts.
Odessa usually strikes me as simple-but-refined like Geneva and a bit folksy or whimsically old-fashioned like Twyla. Right now, (I guess this is cynical or short-sighted but) it sounds like a political statement to me, and I'd prefer Ottessa or Ulyssa. Claire is a nice MN with it; I think I'd go with Miriam or Dorothea...something that seems steady because Odessa seems watery to me (I associate sea voyage, being lost, the Odyssey).
This message was edited 11/9/2022, 8:23 AM