Oswald
An old Germanic personal-name surname meaning “divine power” or “god’s rule.”
The #2,530 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 21,557 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Oswald comes from an early Germanic personal name made from elements meaning “god” and “power” or “rule.” In Old English the name was built from os- (“god”) plus weald (“rule, power”), and a close Old Norse form uses the same first element with a cognate second element. The surname is therefore not originally an occupational or place-name surname, but one formed from an ancient given name.
History
The name was especially well known in early medieval England because of St. Oswald, the Northumbrian Christian king who died in 642. Later, Oswald became established as a hereditary surname in the British Isles, with forms such as Oswald and related spellings recorded in historical surname collections. Because it began as a personal name, it can be found independently in English and Scandinavian-influenced naming traditions.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Oswestry was traditionally explained as “Oswald’s tree” or “Oswald’s cross,” linking the place name to the saint-king’s legacy.
From the historical record
“light, white] OSWALD (Eng. and Scand.) Divine Power [O.E. 6s = O.N. dss ids-, divine), a god+ O.E. w{e)ald = O.N. waW, power, might] The most famous historical bearer of this name was the Northumbrian christian king Oswald who fell A.D. 642 in a battle with Penda, king of the Mercians. This / battle is…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)