Oliver (given name)

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This article is about the given name Oliver. For etymology and Scottish Oliver family, see Oliver (Scottish surname). For the family name, see Oliver (family name). For other uses, see Oliver (disambiguation).

Oliver
Mort de Roland.jpg
Mort de Roland, depicting the death of Roland in The Song of Roland. One part of the story tells how Roland's best friend Oliver died with him.
Pronunciationol-iv-er
Gendermasculine
Language(s)English
Origin
Word/nameOld French and English
MeaningFrom Olivier, an Old French form of the Germanic name Alfhar (literally "elf army/warrior")
Region of originMedieval France, Medieval England
Other names
Nickname(s)Ollie
UsageEnglish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Italian, Russian, Catalan, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Czech, Slovak, Spanish
Related namesOlivier, Olivér, Oliwer, Oliwier, Oliviero, Óliver

Oliver is a masculine given name of Old French and Medieval British origin. The name has been generally associated with the Latin term olivarius, meaning "olive tree planter",[1][2] but other proposed origins include the Germanic names *wulfa- "wolf" and *χarja-[clarification needed] "army";[3] the Old Norse Óleifr (Ólaf); a genuinely West Germanic name, perhaps from ala- "all" and wēra "true" (possibly cognate with Álvaro); the Anglo-Saxon Alfhere;[4] and the Greek name Eleutherios.

Oliver is one of Charlemagne's retainers in the 11th-century Song of Roland. The name was introduced to England by the Normans, where its form was possibly influenced again by its Anglo-Saxon cognate Alfhere.[5] It was commonly used in medieval England, but became rare after the Restoration because of the unpopularity of Oliver Cromwell. The name was revived in the 19th century, possibly inspired by the title character of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist (1838). Pet forms of the English given name include Ollie[5] and, in medieval times, Noll.[6][circular reference]

Modern variants include French Olivier, Hungarian Olivér, Irish Oilibhéar or Oilibhéir, Scottish Gaelic Oilvreis, Portuguese Olívio,[7] Italian Oliviero, Spanish Óliver, and Polish Oliwier or Oliwer.

In 2015, Oliver was the most popular given name for boys in Australia.[8] From 2013 to 2017, Oliver was the most popular given name for baby boys born in England.

Persons with the given name[]

Fictional characters[]

  • Oliver (Disney character)
  • Oliver Fish, a gay police officer on the American soap opera One Life to Live
  • Oliver Hampton, in the American television series How to Get Away with Murder.
  • Oliver Jones (The Bold and the Beautiful), on the American soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful
  • Oliver Lightload, in the movie Cars
  • Oliver Oken, from Hannah Montana
  • Oliver (paladin), a paladin featured in the Matter of France
  • Oliver Queen, DC Comic book hero also known as the Green Arrow
  • Oliver (Thomas and Friends character), a locomotive in the Thomas and Friends franchise
  • Oliver Trask, a controversial minor character from the first season of The O.C.
  • Oliver Twist (character), the protagonist of Dickens' novel Oliver Twist
  • Oliver Wendell Douglas, on the American television situation comedy Green Acres
  • Oliver, the main character of the role-playing game Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Piestrasanta, Silvestro (1682). "Elogium Gentis Carafaeae ac stemma procerum ejus". SYMBOLA HEROICA (in Latin). Amsterdam: Amstelaedami, Apud Janssonio-Waesbergios & Henr. Wetstenium. p. XXX (30).
  2. ^ Sweertius, Franciscus (1628). Athenae Belgicae, sive Nomenclator infer (in Latin). Antwerp: Gulielmus a Tungris. pp. 588–589.
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ "Oliver | Origin and meaning of the name oliver by Online Etymology Dictionary".
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "Learn about the family history of your surname". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2 March 2010.. The webpage cited the following book: A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. 1996. ISBN 0-19-280050-7.
  6. ^ "Oliver Cromwell - Wikipedia". en.m.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  7. ^ Mark, Colin (2006), The Gaelic-English Dictionary, London: Routledge, p. 715, ISBN 0-203-22259-8
  8. ^ "Australia's 100 most popular baby names". Kidspot. 2 April 2013. Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
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