Oswalt
A patronymic surname meaning “son of Oswald,” developed as a shortened or altered form of an old Germanic personal name.
The #6,524 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 59,397 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Oswalt is a surname formed from the old personal name Oswald, with the final -t reflecting a later spelling or pronunciation change. Oswald comes from Germanic elements meaning roughly “god” and “rule” or “power,” so the name carried the sense of divine power or godly authority. In surname use, Oswalt therefore originally meant “son of Oswald” or “descendant of Oswald.”
History
The name Oswald was very early and widespread in medieval England, helped by the fame of St. Oswald of Northumbria. Surname forms such as Oswell, Oswill, and Oswalt appear as later corruptions or regional spellings of the same patronymic base. In the United States, Oswalt is often treated as a variant spelling of this old English surname line.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The name behind Oswalt was boosted in popularity by St. Oswald, a 7th-century king and saint of Northumbria.
From the historical record
“Oswald. OnraU, OswlU, OuwKld. Oanrold, Oswalt.— Bapt. ' the son of Oswald,' cor- ruptly Oswell or Oswill. A very early personal name ; cf. Oswald Kirk, a parish in co. York.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances