Ozzie

Meaning of Ozzie

Ozzie, pronounced the breezy AH-zee, began as the jaunty short form of a whole congregation of venerable names—Old English Oswald (“divine power”), Norse Osborn (“god-bear”), and the biblical Ozias (“salvation”) among them—yet, true to its plucky nature, it has long since wriggled free to fly solo on birth certificates in both the boys’ and the girls’ columns. The shared “Os/ Oz” root, meaning “god” or “strength,” gives the name a quietly weighty subtext, even as its zesty Z lends a modern snap that parents clearly appreciate: in U.S. records it has hovered, unruffled and quietly confident, in the mid-hundreds for more than a century, with a gentle uptick over the last decade. Cultural associations run the gamut—from the wholesome 1950s sitcom dad in “Ozzie and Harriet,” to gold-glove baseball wizard Ozzie Smith, to rock legend Ozzy Osbourne—proving that this compact moniker can house both domestic harmony and unapologetic rebellion without breaking a sweat. For families seeking a name that feels amiable yet self-possessed, vintage yet voltage-charged, Ozzie offers precisely the sort of understated spark that can light up a bassinet without ever shouting for attention.