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REAL: Oscar comes from the Irish name Osgar, which is made from elements meaning "deer" and "friend." It was used as the name of a character in Scottish author James MacPherson's (1736-1796) Ossianic Poems. Napoleon was a big fan of MacPherson's works, and thus gave the name to his Godson, who became Oscar I of Sweden. Because of this, Oscar became popular in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries (also in the spelling Oskar), and is often mistaken for a Germanic name. Because of this, many baby name books list Oscar as having germanic roots meaning "spear" and "divine." Howerver, they may be confusing it with the Old English name Osgar, which is made of these elements, but didn't survive the Norman Conquest. |
