Etymology 1
Exact origin uncertain. Resuscitated by James Mcpherson in The Works of Ossian (1765). Napoleon, an admirer of the Ossianic poems, chose it for his godson Oscar Bernadotte, who became a king of Sweden.
The modern given name is a conflation of two unrelated names: first, Middle Irish Oscar (the name of Fionn Mac Cumhaill's grandson in Irish mythology), from Middle Irish os (“deer”) + cara (“friend”); and second, Old English Ōscār, Ōsgār (personal name, literally “spear of the gods/spear of God”), from Old English ōs (“god”) and gār (“spear”) (see Oswald). Compare German Ansgar (personal name), Danish Asker, Asger (personal name), Norwegian Asgeir (personal name), Icelandic Ásgeir (personal name).
(Academy Award): Disputed. Said to have been named by actress Bette Davis after her first husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson, or by secretary Margaret Herrick after her cousin Oscar Pierce.
Proper noun
Oscar
- A male given name from Irish or Old English.
1765, James Macpherson, The Poems of Ossian, Tauchnitz, published 1847, page 192:My son, though alone, is brave. Oscar is like a beam of the sky: he turns around, and the people fall.
- 2005 Marc Cerasini, etc, Operation Hell Gate, HarperEntertainment, →ISBN, page 134:
- Had a funny first name, like Oscar or maybe - no! I remember now. It was Felix. Felix Tanner.
- A surname from Irish [in turn originating as a patronymic], a rare anglicization of Mac Oscair (“son of Oscar”) (McCusker).
- A locale in the United States.
- An unincorporated community in Kentucky; named for Kentucky Representative Oscar Turner.
- An unincorporated community in Louisiana.
- An unincorporated community in Missouri; named for early settler Oscar Bradford.
- An unincorporated community in Oklahoma; named for local rancher Oscar W. Seay.
- An unincorporated community in Pennsylvania.
- An unincorporated community in West Virginia.
Anagrams
- ASROC, ROSCA, orcas, Carso, Rasco, sarco-, ocras, AOCRs, Arcos, Rocas, sacro-, Coras
