Oswald
Oswald is outside the top 1,000 in 2024, with 70 births. Its best rank was 465th, in 1886.
- Rank in 2024
- —outside the top 1,000
- Births in 2024
- 700.00% of boys
- Peak year
- 1916107 births
- Best rank
- #465in 1886
- Since 1880
- 4,339people given the name
The story in the numbers
4,339 boys have been named Oswald in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1916, with 107 births.
This is a comeback. After an early peak the name fell to a fraction of its former share, and it has been climbing again for the past decade.
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1936, and the 1920s alone account for 18%. It has spent 52 of 145 years in the top 1,000.
Rank among boys, year by year
By decade
| Decade | boys named Oswald | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 101 | |
| 1890s | 115 | |
| 1900s | 141 | |
| 1910s | 750 | |
| 1920s | 763 | |
| 1930s | 375 | |
| 1940s | 243 | |
| 1950s | 276 | |
| 1960s | 218 | |
| 1970s | 211 | |
| 1980s | 210 | |
| 1990s | 183 | |
| 2000s | 189 | |
| 2010s | 281 | |
| 2020s | 283 |
In 1916, its biggest year
Oswald was the 553rd most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1916 were John, William, James, Robert and Joseph. See all of 1916.
Names that rose and fell with Oswald
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Valentinepeak 1918
- Juliuspeak 1918
- Waldopeak 1915
- Ludwigpeak 1916
- Rupertpeak 1920
- Emilepeak 1922
- Roscopeak 1922
- Ellsworthpeak 1918
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.