Friday, June 22, 2012

Onomastics


I’m thinking the name “Oscar” should be poised for a comeback.  It’s masculine, it’s Nordic, it’s far enough out of fashion to come back.  It doesn’t have the sound of a name the girls would steal – there are two markers for that, either a long “e” (Leslie, Kelly, Keenan) or previous use as an English-sounding surname (Taylor, Madison, Quincy) – so parents can feel more confident about using it.

It works for a little boy, boy, older boy, man.  What’s not to like?  Okay, unless you just don’t like the name Oscar.

9 comments:

  1. The Oscar-Mayer Wiener company has pretty successfully hammered their brand name into us and the first several hundred thousand Oscars will have to put up with quite a lot of "wiener" taunts in grade school.

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  2. Gringo11:50 AM

    A relative by marriage had a middle name that he didn't want anyone to know. I found out in later years that his middle name was Gustav.

    Courtesy of the Swedish side of his family. He was from Chelmsford.

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  3. Chelmsford? My people would know some of his people. There were Lindquists in Chelmsford, and on the other side, my Dad and Grampa lived in Westford most of their lives.

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  4. I have a very good friend named Oscar, about our age.

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  5. @Sam,

    I would think that Sesame Street also did some harm to Oscar. Though not the same kind of harm, perhaps.

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  6. Oscar De la Hoya, Oscar de la Renta - maybe it's more common in Hispanic cultures.

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  7. Sam L.1:30 AM

    Oscar is very, very popular in Hollywood, I hear.

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  8. There was a cartoon years ago about the Award family, a four box panel with pictures of Grammy, Oscar, Tony, and Emmy.

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  9. Don't forget Oscar and Felix.

    For some reason, Oskar spelled with a "k" looks much more masculine to me. It also looks a little foreign and exotic (while still being phonetic), which is helpful for a name so long as it's not too weird.

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