Explore the Family Name Oscar
The meaning of Oscar
1. English: de-aspirated variant of Hosker, in a spelling that was no doubt influenced by the 18th-century personal name (see 3 below). 2. Irish and Scottish: rare shortened form of Irish Mac Oscair (see McCusker), a patronymic based on the personal name Oscar, which is most probably from Gaelic os ‘fawn, deer’ + car- ‘love’. Alternatively, it may be from a Gaelic borrowing of the Old Norse personal name Ásgeirr (from ans ‘god’ + geirr ‘spear’); see Hosker 2. 3. French: from the Irish and Scottish Gaelic personal name Oscar (see 2 above), which owed its popularity in France (and also in Germany and Scandinavia) to the Ossian poems of James MacPherson (1760), which enjoyed a great vogue in France and other parts of Europe in the late 18th century. 4. In North America, this surname also originated from a transferred use of the personal (given) name Oscar (see 3 above) as a surname (i.e. as a replacement of the original surname), which occurred among some Norwegian and apparently also Swedish and German immigrants. History: Oscar was the name of two 19th-century kings of Sweden, members of the House of Bernadotte, which was founded by Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte (1763–1844), who, before being selected as heir to the throne of Sweden, had been one of Napoleon’s marshals of France. Napoleon and Bernadotte were admirers of the Ossian poems of James MacPherson.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Oscar in the United States?
Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Oscar has seen a significant increase between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, the name was ranked 18,129 in popularity but by 2010, it had risen to rank 16,214 - that's a 10.56% change. The count of individuals with the surname also rose from 1,417 to 1,781, marking an impressive 25.69% increase. As a proportion, for every 100,000 people in the U.S., around 0.53 had this surname in 2000, but this figure had grown to 0.6 by 2010, indicating a 13.21% rise.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #18,129 | #16,214 | 10.56% |
| Count | 1,417 | 1,781 | 25.69% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.53 | 0.6 | 13.21% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Oscar
The ethnic identity associated with the surname Oscar, as indicated by the Decennial U.S. Census, has undergone some changes during the same period. The percentage of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaskan Native, or as having two or more races decreased by 12.84%, 5.6%, and 23.51% respectively. On the other hand, those identifying as Black or Hispanic saw an increase by 22.05% and 8.27% respectively. However, the most notable shift occurred among the White population, which decreased from 36.84% to 29.03%, marking a 21.2% decrease.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 35.29% | 43.07% | 22.05% |
| White | 36.84% | 29.03% | -21.2% |
| Hispanic | 16.8% | 18.19% | 8.27% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 6.07% | 5.73% | -5.6% |
| Two or More Races | 3.53% | 2.7% | -23.51% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 1.48% | 1.29% | -12.84% |