Oswald
Fewer than 310 men in Poland carry it, so most Poles have never met an Oswald. Germanic at root, from words for "divine power".
Oswald Pronunciation
Oswald is pronounced OS-fahlt (/ˈɔsfalt/).
What Oswald means
Where Oswald comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Oswald grows from Germanic roots. The first part goes back to Old English ōs, a word for a god, while the second, weald, meant power or rule. Put together they give the meaning printed on Polish name pages: divine power, or boży władca. The name belongs to English and German tradition alike, and it kept that double home for a long time.
Its most famous bearer was Oswald of Northumbria, a king who fell in battle around the year 642 and was later honoured as a saint. His story spread his name across England and into the German lands, where it settled among ordinary families. There are no common Polish diminutives for it. Oswald stays Oswald.
In Poland the name is uncommon, which makes it stand out on a school register or an official form at the urząd. A child called Oswald has no nickname to hide behind. What the name offers instead is its plain old sense: a god's power, boży władca.
When Oswald celebrates name day
Oswald appears 3 times in the Polish name day calendar, 1 of them as a main name, the first on 5 August.
The days Polish calendars list this name on. By custom you celebrate one of them, usually the first after your birthday.
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
How many people are named Oswald
1 in 69082 men in Poland is named Oswald. 309 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1723 among male names.
Oswald as a middle name
Oswald is a first name for 309 men in Poland and a middle name for another 279, a 53/47 split, almost evenly. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 423rd, between Esteban (279) and Kasjan (278).
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#421 Roberto280
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#422 Esteban279
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#423 Oswald279
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#424 Kasjan278
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#425 Tycjan278