The story in the numbers

211,463 boys have been named Oscar in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 2006, with 3,601 births — 0.18% of all boys recorded that year.

It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 184 → 217).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1981, and the 2000s alone account for 16%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 46 of them in the top 100.

It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 1,070 girls have also been given it, 0.50% of the total.

Rank among boys, year by year

By decade

Decade

boys named Oscar

5,982

5,612

4,517

14,869

17,740

11,373

10,189

11,363

9,910

11,850

15,660

27,885

33,545

22,258

8,710

In 2006, its biggest year

Oscar was the 118th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 2006 were Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Ethan and Matthew. See all of 2006.

Names that rose and fell with Oscar

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.