Osmer
An Old English masculine name meaning "divine warrior" or "divine protector".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Osmer. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Osmer today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Osmer births was 1918 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Osmer. 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 Osmer. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1918
7 babies that year
Average age
-
1922 SSA rank
#4,795
Tracked since 1918
Popularity
Osmer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Osmer from the 1910s through to the 1920s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 7 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Osmer remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Osmer 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 Osmer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Osmer
The given name Osmer has its origins in the Old English language and culture, dating back to the early medieval period. It is derived from the Old English words "os" meaning "god" and "mær" meaning "famous" or "renowned," thus signifying "famous by God" or "renowned in the eyes of the divine."
The name's roots can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Britain, where it was commonly used among the aristocracy and nobility. It is believed to have been particularly popular in the regions of Mercia and Northumbria during the 7th to 9th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Osmer can be found in the Ecclesiastical History of the English People, written by the Venerable Bede in the 8th century. In this work, Bede mentions an Osmer who was a nobleman and advisor to the Northumbrian king Ecgfrith in the late 7th century.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Osmer continued to be used, although its popularity waned gradually as new names of Norman and French origin gained prominence in England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. Nevertheless, several notable individuals bore the name during this period, including Osmer, Bishop of Salisbury from 1078 to 1099, who played a crucial role in the construction of Salisbury Cathedral.
In the 12th century, an Osmer de Candos was a prominent landholder and military commander who fought in the Welsh Marches under King Henry II. Around the same time, an Osmer the Chronicler was a monk and historian at the Abbey of Evesham, best known for his detailed account of the abbey's history and the lives of its abbots.
Moving into the 13th century, Osmer Gifford, born in 1210, was a notable English clergyman who served as Bishop of Worcester from 1268 until his death in 1301. He was renowned for his support of the university at Oxford and his efforts in improving the administration of his diocese.
Despite its declining usage over the centuries, the name Osmer has persisted in various forms and spellings, such as Osmund, Osmont, and Osmer. However, its rarity in modern times has made it somewhat of a curiosity, evoking a sense of historical significance and cultural heritage.
People
Osmer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Osmer 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
Osmer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Osmer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Osmer 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 Osmer a common name?
We classify Osmer 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 Osmer most popular?
The single biggest year for Osmer was 1918, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Osmer 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 Osmer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Osmer a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Osmer 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 Osmer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Osmer 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 Osmer 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 named Osmer?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.