# Oswald (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/oswald/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname originating as a patronymic.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 14,322 |
| US rank (2010) | 2,530 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 21,557 people |
| Change since 2000 | -0.1% (14,332 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɒzwəld/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Inherited from Old English Ōsweald, from ōs (“god, deity”) + weald (“power”). Cognate with German Answald, Faroese and Icelandic Ásvaldur, and Norwegian Nynorsk Åsvald.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Oswald in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 95% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.9% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.1% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Oswald in the United States, Austria and Brazil.

## People named Oswald

- Lee Harvey Oswald, American former marine who assassinated John F. Kennedy (1939–1963)
- Richard Oswald, Austrian film director (1880–1963)
- Stephen S. Oswald, American astronaut
- Gerd Oswald, American film and television director (1919–1989)
- Philipp Oswald, Austrian tennis player
- Henrique Oswald, Brazilian composer (1852–1931)
- Jani Lane, American rock singer (1964–2011)

## Similar surnames

Oswalt, Ogletree, O'Shields.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.