Osbie
A name meaning "bear" or "bear cub" of uncertain origin.
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Osbie. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Osbie today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Osbie births was 1919 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Osbie. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Osbie. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1919
7 babies that year
Average age
-
1919 SSA rank
#3,660
Tracked since 1918
Popularity
Osbie: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Osbie by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Osbie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 12 | 0 | 12 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Osbie
The given name Osbie is a diminutive form of the Old English name Osbeorn, which was derived from the elements "os" meaning "god" and "beorn" meaning "bear." This name has its origins in Anglo-Saxon England and was popular during the 8th to 11th centuries AD.
Osbie is believed to have emerged as a shortened form of Osbeorn during the Middle Ages, when it was common for longer names to be abbreviated for everyday use. The name was primarily found in England and the surrounding regions where Old English was spoken.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Osbie can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. An individual named Osbie is listed as a landowner in the county of Dorset.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Osbie. One of the earliest was Osbie de Vere (c. 1090-1150), an Anglo-Norman nobleman and lord of the manor of Castle Hedingham in Essex, England.
Another prominent figure was Osbie Holcroft (1608-1695), an English playwright and actor who was a member of the King's Men, one of the most famous acting companies in Jacobean England.
In the 18th century, Osbie Wettenhall (1715-1795) was a notable British politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Cheshire from 1754 to 1768.
During the 19th century, Osbie Compton (1828-1901) was a British army officer who fought in the Crimean War and later served as the Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1892 to 1899.
In more recent times, Osbie Duffield (1920-1991) was a British actor and playwright who appeared in numerous television shows and films in the 1960s and 1970s.
While the name Osbie has fallen out of common usage in modern times, its historical roots and associations with notable individuals throughout English history make it a unique and interesting name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Osbie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Osbie as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Osbie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Osbie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Osbie going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about - US residents.
Is Osbie a common name?
We classify Osbie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Osbie most popular?
The single biggest year for Osbie was 1919, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Osbie is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Osbie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Osbie a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Osbie in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Osbie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Osbie in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Osbie can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Osbie?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.