Oscar
Meaning of Oscar
Oscar is an Irish name, borne in legend by the warrior son of Oisín and grandson of Fionn mac Cumhaill. Its meaning is uncertain: it may mean 'deer friend' in Old Irish or be borrowed from Old English and Old Norse names meaning 'god spear'. It is pronounced AH-sker in English and OH-skar in Spanish and Italian.
Napoleon, an admirer of James Macpherson's Ossian poems, suggested the name for his godson, the future King Oscar I of Sweden. The Irish writer Oscar Wilde is among its best-known bearers, and the Academy Award statuette is known as the Oscar.
In the U.S., Oscar's highest rank was 26th, in 1883 and 1886. After a long slide it rose again, peaking at 3,601 babies in 2006. It has since eased, ranking 223rd in 2025 with 1,620 babies.
Pronunciation
English
- Pronunced as AH-sker (/ˈɒskər/)
Spanish,Italian
- Pronunced as OH-skar (/ˈoskar/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Oscar
| Oscar Wilde was an Irish author and playwright, a leading Victorian dramatist and Aestheticism figure, best known for The Picture of Dorian Gray, his witty epigrams and plays, and his 1895 conviction for gross indecency. |
| Oscar Isaac Hernandez Estrada is an acclaimed American actor known for breaking Latino stereotypes, with a Golden Globe, an Emmy nomination, and honors from Vanity Fair, the New York Times, and Time 100. |
| Oscar De La Hoya is a Mexican American boxing legend and promoter, a 1992 Olympic lightweight gold medalist who won 11 world titles in six weight classes and is widely regarded as one of the greatest. |
| Oscar Robertson, the Big O, is an American basketball legend who starred for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks, was a 12 time All Star and 1964 MVP, became the first to average a triple double in 1962, and helped lead the Bucks to their first title in 1971. |
| Oscar Hammerstein II was an American lyricist, librettist, and musical theater producer-director whose nearly 40-year career yielded 850 co-written songs, many now standards, and won him eight Tony Awards and two Academy Awards for Best Original Song. |
| Oscar de la Renta, a Dominican fashion designer trained by Cristobal Balenciaga and Antonio del Castillo, rose to fame in the 1960s dressing Jacqueline Kennedy, worked at Lanvin and Balmain, and built a global fashion house based in New York. |
| Oscar I of Sweden - Oscar I ruled Sweden and Norway from 1844 until his death as the second monarch of the House of Bernadotte. |
| Prince Oscar Bernadotte was a Swedish royal and religious activist, second son of King Oscar II, who lost his Swedish titles after marrying contrary to the constitution and was later styled Prince Bernadotte and Count of Wisborg in Luxembourg. |
| Oscar Luigi Scalfaro was an Italian statesman who served as President of Italy from 1992 to 1999 after 44 years in the Chamber of Deputies, moving from Christian Democracy to independence and later the center left. |
| Óscar Romero - Salvadoran Catholic archbishop Oscar Romero spoke out against injustice and was assassinated in 1980, a killing later linked by a UN truth commission to Roberto D Aubuisson. |
