Meaning of the nameOswaldo

Male
Germanic origin
Os-wal-do

Oswaldo is a male name of Germanic origin, equivalent to the English Oswald, from Old English Ōsweald, formed from ōs, 'god', and weald, 'power'.

Meaning

“god and power”

Source: Wiktionary: Oswald · Behind the Name: Oswald · Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil: Osvaldo

More names that mean God

People (2022): 16,866
Rank in Brazil: #1,184
Median age: 64 years
2010 Census: 22,757; people

Oswaldo in the 2022 Census

People with the first name Oswaldo, by the decade they were born. In the chart, 70 = the 1970s and 20+ = 2020 to 2022. The largest group was born in the 1950s (4,359 people).

48 women 16,818 men

Source: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census, Nomes no Brasil. The census counts the first name of people alive in 2022; small counts are not published, and the first group covers everyone born before 1940. How to read these data.

Where the name Oswaldo is most common

States with the highest share of people named Oswaldo in the population, in the 2022 Census.

All states

State	People	% of population
São Paulo	7,999	0.018%
Rio de Janeiro	2,384	0.015%
Minas Gerais	2,000	0.010%
Paraná	1,049	0.009%
Santa Catarina	409	0.005%
Goiás	311	0.004%
Rio Grande do Sul	309	0.003%
Espírito Santo	290	0.008%
Bahia	284	0.002%
Mato Grosso do Sul	238	0.009%
Pernambuco	189	0.002%
Pará	181	0.002%
Distrito Federal	171	0.006%
Amazonas	145	0.004%
Maranhão	144	0.002%
Ceará	142	0.002%
Mato Grosso	126	0.003%
Roraima	83	0.013%
Rondônia	71	0.005%
Rio Grande do Norte	59	0.002%
Piauí	55	0.002%
Alagoas	55	0.002%
Paraíba	50	0.001%
Sergipe	50	0.002%
Tocantins	40	0.003%
Amapá	19	0.003%

States with fewer than 15 people with the name are not shown: IBGE does not publish those counts.

About the name Oswaldo

Wiktionary lists Oswaldo as the equivalent of the English Oswald, which comes from Old English Ōsweald, from ōs ('god, deity') and weald ('power'). Behind the Name gives the same composition, with weald read as 'powerful', and lists Osvaldo and Oswaldo as Portuguese forms. The Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil (Dictionary of Names in Use in Brazil), in its entry for Osvaldo, cites Machado (1981): the name would come from the French Osvald, of Germanic origin, with Os-, the name of a god in Germanic mythology, and Walt, 'strength'. In the 2022 Census, IBGE recorded 16,866 people named Oswaldo, with a median age of 64. Proportionally, it is most common in São Paulo.

Sources

Wiktionary: Oswald · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
Behind the Name: Oswald · behindthename.com · meaning
Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil: Osvaldo · dicionariodenomesdobrasil.com.br · meaning
Wiktionary: Oswaldo · en.wiktionary.org · spelling

Questions about the name Oswaldo

What does the name Oswaldo mean?

Oswaldo means “god and power”, according to Wiktionary and Behind the Name.

How many people are named Oswaldo in Brazil?

IBGE's 2022 Census recorded 16,866 people with the first name Oswaldo, which ranks it number 1,184 among the country's names. The largest group was born in the 1950s.

Is Oswaldo a boy's or a girl's name?

Oswaldo is a male name: in the 2022 Census, 48 women and 16,818 men had this name.

What is the origin of the name Oswaldo?

Oswaldo is a name of Germanic origin. The sources are listed at the end of the page.

In which Brazilian state is Oswaldo most common?

Proportionally, in São Paulo: 0.018% of the state's population is named Oswaldo (7,999 people), according to the 2022 Census.

Names that also mean God

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More names of Germanic origin

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Spotted a mistake? Report a correction for Oswaldo with a source. See the methodology.