Oswald

English
"divine power"

Oswald Origin and Meaning

The name Oswald is a boy's name of English origin meaning "divine power".

Despite the success of so many O-starting boys names--Oliver, Owen, Otis, Oscar--Oswald has not yet shown any signs of resurrection, though he does have the animating nicknames Ozzie/Ozzy and Oz. The name has some literary cred--in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare's King Lear and a novel by H. G.Wells--and there was early cartoon character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

# 932 in the US

Oswald Rank in US Top 1000

# 1053 on Nameberry

Oswald Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Oswald Popularity

Famous People Named Oswald

  • Saint OswaldKing of Northumbria
  • Oswald Ernald Mosley6th Baronet of Ancoats, founder of the British Union of Fascists
  • Oswald Arnold Gottfried SpenglerGerman historian
  • Oswald ChambersScottish evangelist and teacher
  • Oswald BoelckeGerman WWI flying ace
  • Oswald of WorcesterArchbishop of York
  • Oswald VeblenAmerican mathematician
  • Oswald Theodore Avery Jr.Canadian,American physician and DNA researcher
  • Lee Harvey Oswaldassassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy

Oswald in Pop Culture

  • Oswald the Lucky Rabbitearly Disney character
  • Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot aka The Penguinvillain in the Batman series
  • Oswald Hamleycharacter in "Wives and Daughters" by Elizabeth Gaskell
  • Oswald Sydenhamcharacter in "Joan and Peter" by H.G. Wells
  • Oswald Lee Harveycharacter on "The Drew Carey Show"
  • Oswald Bastablecharacter in novels by E. Nesbit
  • OswaldGoneril's steward in Shakespeare's King Lear
  • "Oswald" animated series about an octopus
  • Oswald Alvingcharacter in Henrik Ibsen’s 1881 play “Ghosts”
  • Oswald StandishLord Chiltern, character in Anthony Trollope's "Palliser" series
  • Oswald "Otto" Rocketcharacter from animated series "Rocket Power"
  • Oswaldcharacter from TV series "Warehouse 13"
  • Oswaldcharacter in the video game "Odin Sphere" (2007)
  • Oswald Forstermain character in G. A. Henty's "Both Sides the Border"
  • Oswald Mandusmain character in video game ''Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs''
  • Oswin Oswaldcharacter on TV's "Doctor Who"
  • Clara Oswaldcharacter on TV's "Doctor Who"