How Many People Are Named Oswald?
people named Oswald are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 179,886 people in the US has this name
Based on 4,407 babies named Oswald in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
💎💎 Very Rare
Peak Year
107 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
Derived from the Old English elements os "god" and weald "power, ruler". Saint Oswald was a king of Northumbria who introduced Christianity to northeast England in the 7th century before being killed in battle. There was also an Old Norse cognate Ásvaldr in use in England, being borne by the 10th-century Saint Oswald of Worcester, who was of Danish ancestry. Though the name had died out by the end of the Middle Ages, it was revived in the 19th century.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
All of the babies given the name Oswald in the records were boys.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Oswald alive today is about 36 years old, and 46% are under 30. Half of them were between 9 and 59 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Oswald first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1916, to 107 babies. In 2025, 67 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Oswald has never been one of the 100 most popular boys' names. Its best rank was #465, in 1886. In 2025 it ranked #2,161.
| Boys | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #2,161 |
| Best rank | #465 (1886) |
| Years in the top 100 | None |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #746 in the 1920s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Oswald alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Oswald were born in New York than in any other state: about 201 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Oswald was given 4.3 times as often in New York, 3.4 times in Louisiana and 2.9 times in Minnesota.
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