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:

Sam said...

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.

Gringo said...

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.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

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.

Texan99 said...

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

karrde said...

@Sam,

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

Assistant Village Idiot said...

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

Sam L. said...

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

Assistant Village Idiot said...

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

jaed said...

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.