# Ossian (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/ossian/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Irish |
| Meaning | “deer” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Oisin |
| US babies named this | 106 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 106 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 194, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

An anglicisation, made known by James Macpherson, of Irish Oisín, diminutive form of os (“deer”).

## What it means

Ossian is grouped under deer.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 5 | 12,837 |
| 2007 | 5 | 13,872 |
| 2010 | 7 | 10,460 |
| 2014 | 6 | 11,756 |
| 2016 | 6 | 11,767 |
| 2018 | 5 | 13,600 |
| 2019 | 7 | 10,523 |
| 2021 | 6 | 11,774 |
| 2022 | 11 | 7,609 |
| 2023 | 24 | 4,431 |
| 2024 | 16 | 5,834 |
| 2025 | 8 | 9,475 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 7 | 2,613 |
| 2012 | 3 | 4,805 |
| 2013 | 6 | 2,954 |
| 2014 | 11 | 1,935 |
| 2015 | 3 | 4,747 |
| 2016 | 11 | 2,027 |
| 2017 | 9 | 2,324 |
| 2018 | 4 | 3,959 |
| 2019 | 5 | 3,411 |
| 2020 | 9 | 2,228 |
| 2021 | 10 | 2,125 |
| 2022 | 10 | 2,165 |
| 2023 | 9 | 2,325 |
| 2024 | 11 | 2,088 |
| 2025 | 6 | 3,256 |

## In other languages

- Finnish: Ossian
- Irish: Oisín
- Swedish: Ossian
- Welsh: Osian

## People named Ossian

- Leland Ossian Howard, American entomologist (1857-1950)
- Ossi Blomqvist, Finnish speed skater (1908-1955)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.