How common is the surname Oswald?

14,322 people in the United States had the surname Oswald in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 21,557 Americans. It ranked 2,530th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Oswald?

In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Oswald identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Oswald?

Lee Harvey Oswald, American former marine who assassinated John F. Kennedy (1939–1963), followed by Richard Oswald.

Where is the surname Oswald most common?

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

How do you pronounce Oswald?

Oswald is /ˈɒzwəld/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Oswald getting more or less common?

Less common. 14,332 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 14,322 in 2010, down 0.1%.

Is Oswald also a first name?

Yes. Oswald is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Oswald

An English patronymic surname, carried by 14,322 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈɒzwəld/ 2 syllables Soundex O243 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Oswald is more common than 98.4% of them.

Origin

English origin

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

Oswald is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 14,322 people named Oswald in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 21,557 Americans. That is about the same as in 2000, when the Census counted 14,332.

#2,530

rank among US surnames

14,322

people in 2010

4.9

per 100,000 Americans

-0.1%

change since 2000 (was #2,313)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#2,521	Collazo	14,369	21,487
#2,522	McMahan	14,368	21,488
#2,523	Hershberger	14,357	21,505
#2,524	Linton	14,354	21,509
#2,526	Mehta	14,342	21,527
#2,527	Mayberry	14,326	21,551
#2,528	Barger	14,324	21,554

Who is named Oswald

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

95% of people named Oswald identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.3% as two or more races.

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

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Oswalds

7 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

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, born 1951
Gerd Oswald
American film and television director (1919–1989)
Philipp Oswald
Austrian tennis player, born 1986
Henrique Oswald
Brazilian composer (1852–1931)
Jani Lane
American rock singer (1964–2011)

Notable Oswalds come mostly from the United States (4), Austria (2) and Brazil (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Oswald

Oswalt

Oswald has the Soundex code O243, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code O243.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Oswald come from?: Inherited from Old English Ōsweald, from ōs (“god, deity”) + weald (“power”). Cognate with German Answald, Faroese and Icelandic Ásvaldur, and Norwegian Nynorsk Åsvald.
How common is the surname Oswald?: 14,322 people in the United States had the surname Oswald in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 21,557 Americans. It ranked 2,530th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Oswald?: In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Oswald identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Oswald?: Lee Harvey Oswald, American former marine who assassinated John F. Kennedy (1939–1963), followed by Richard Oswald.
Where is the surname Oswald most common?: Wikidata records people named Oswald in the United States, Austria and Brazil.
How do you pronounce Oswald?: Oswald is /ˈɒzwəld/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Oswald?: Oswald is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Oswald getting more or less common?: Less common. 14,332 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 14,322 in 2010, down 0.1%.
Is Oswald also a first name?: Yes. Oswald is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.