Oliver (given name)

Oliver is a masculine given name of Old French and Medieval British origin; Oliver is one of Charlemagne's retainers in the eleventh-century Song of Roland.

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, 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.
Pronunciationo-li-va
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

The name was generally associated with the Latin term/name olivarius "olive tree planter",[1][2] but may have been connected with the Germanic names *wulfa- "wolf" and *χarja- "army",[3] or the Old Norse Óleifr (Ólaf); or 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.

Modern variants include French Olivier, Hungarian Olivér, Irish Oilibhéar or Oilibhéir, Scottish Gaelic Oilvreis, Portuguese Olívio,[5] Italian Oliviero, Spanish Óliver, Polish Oliwier or Oliwer.

The name was introduced to England by the Normans where its form was possibly influenced again by its Anglo-Saxon cognate Alfhere.[6] 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 nineteenth century, possibly inspired by the title character of Dickens' Oliver Twist (1838). Pet forms of the English given name include Ollie.[6]

In 2015, Oliver was the most popular name for boys in Australia.[7]

Persons with the given name

Fictional characters

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.
  4. "Oliver | Origin and meaning of the name oliver by Online Etymology Dictionary".
  5. Mark, Colin (2006), The Gaelic-English Dictionary, London: Routledge, p. 715, ISBN 0-203-22259-8
  6. "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.
  7. From 2013 to 2017, Oliver was the most popular given name for baby boys born in England."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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