Oswaldo
A masculine name of Old German origin meaning "divine power".
Name Census estimates that about 5,601 living Americans carry the first name Oswaldo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Oswaldo today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oswaldo births was 2006 (461 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oswaldo. 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.
People living today
5.6K
~ 1 in 61,195 Americans
Peak year
2006
461 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,930
Tracked since 1915
Census
Oswaldo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,720 people with the first name Oswaldo, which placed it at #2,351 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#2,351
National first-name rank
People counted
11K
10,720 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
97.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Oswaldo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oswaldo is Hispanic at 97.0%. The next largest groups are White (1.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Oswaldo described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Oswaldo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino97.0% · 10,401
- White1.9% · 199
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 71
- Black or African American0.3% · 37
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 6
- Two or more races0.1% · 6
Popularity
Oswaldo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Oswaldo from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 2,454 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Oswaldo 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 Oswaldo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Oswaldos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Oswaldo, while Virginia, Michigan, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 217 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Oswaldo
The name Oswaldo has its origins in the Germanic languages, derived from the Old Norse elements "os" meaning "god" and "waldan" meaning "to rule" or "to govern." It is a variant of the name Oswald, which was borne by several historical figures.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Oswald dates back to the 7th century, when it was the name of a Northumbrian king who ruled from 634 to 642 AD. He was later venerated as a saint and martyr after his death in the Battle of Maserfield.
Another notable figure with the name Oswald was Oswald of Worcester, an Anglo-Saxon bishop who lived in the 10th century. He played a significant role in the revival of monastic life in England during his time as Bishop of Worcester and Archbishop of York.
In the 12th century, Oswald of Gloucester was a renowned English hagiographer and author. He wrote the life of St. Wulfstan, the Bishop of Worcester, and other works that shed light on the religious and cultural life of the time.
During the 16th century, Oswald Myconius was a Swiss Protestant reformer and theologian. He was a close associate of Huldrych Zwingli and played a crucial role in the spread of the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland.
In more recent history, Oswaldo Aranha (1894-1976) was a Brazilian diplomat and politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and as a representative at the United Nations. He played a significant role in the establishment of the United Nations and was the first President of the United Nations General Assembly.
While the name Oswaldo has Germanic roots, it has been adopted and used in various cultures and languages, particularly in Spanish-speaking countries. Its popularity has waxed and waned over the centuries, but it remains a recognizable name with a rich historical legacy.
People
Oswaldo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oswaldo 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
Oswaldo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oswaldo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,601 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oswaldo 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 1 in 61,195 US residents.
Is Oswaldo a common name?
We classify Oswaldo as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,861 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oswaldo most popular?
The single biggest year for Oswaldo was 2006, when 461 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oswaldo is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Oswaldo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,720 people with the name Oswaldo, or 3.55 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,351 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Oswaldo in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Oswaldo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Oswaldo appears almost entirely male. Of the 10,721 people counted with this name, 99.9% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Oswaldo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oswaldo is Hispanic at 97.0%. The next largest groups are White (1.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Oswaldo most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Oswaldo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.0% (10,401 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Oswaldo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Oswaldo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Oswaldo 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 Oswaldo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Oswaldo 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 Oswaldo 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.
How many people share the name Oswaldo?
You can see how many people have the name Oswaldo on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.