Oswald (surname)

Oswald is a surname of Scottish, northern English and German provenance.

The surname derives from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Oswald, in particular, King Oswald of Bernicia and later Northumbria. Bernicia consisted of what is now the Lothian and Borders areas of southern Scotland and the English counties of Northumberland and County Durham, while Northumbria was formed by uniting this kingdom with Deira(Yorkshire) to the south.

As described by Bede, after his death in 642, Oswald soon came to be regarded as a saint. The name was introduced to Germany as a result of his fame being spread by Celtic missionaries to southern Germany.

The word Oswald is composed of two Anglo-Saxon elements os meaning 'god' and weald meaning 'rule' or ‘power’.

The surname is most prevalent, as regards frequency, in Scotland and the southern part of the German speaking area (Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Austria). Also in some but not all former German colonial territories (Tanzania, Namibia and Rwanda).The United States is the country with most occurrences of the name.

Oswald is most frequent in the KY postcode area (i.e. Fife and Kinross-shire) and the PH postcode area (namely in and around Perthshire) in Scotland, . Also in the DH postcode area which covers central parts of County Durham in northern England. The town with the highest frequency is Burntisland in Fife. In 1881 the distribution was more concentrated and the area with the highest frequency was Fife and Kinross-shire (KY). In that year Fife and Kinross-shire contained 31% of all Oswalds in Scotland.

The German states (Laender) where Oswald is most prevalent are Bavaria and then Baden-Wurttemberg

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