Oliver V Oscar

[Salonly]

Are these names quite similar? Is it inevitable that Oscar will reach Oliver's level of popularity?

Which do you prefer and why?

[claricebeansmum]

I have an Oscar. He is 13 so quite rare for his age

He has just thrown up 4 times in 1 hour and missed the bucket each time

Oscar's are the best

[TrillianSlasher]

Oliver. There's no nice shortening for Oscar.

[thedollshouse]

I prefer Oliver. Oliver is lovely, I wanted it on our list but dh not keen. Oliver is timeless it has been popular for years and will remain that way.

Oscar is more a name of the time iyswim? I can't imagine it being so popular in 20 years time. I also can't get past the pet dog connection.

[claricebeansmum]

What is wrong with Ossie/Ozzie/Oz?

[Tidey]

Much prefer Oliver. No offence to any MNers with Oscars, but it's forever linked to a fluffy green monster who lives in a bin, in my mind at least.

[TrillianSlasher]

Oh now Oz is good for a teenager, I forgot about that one, but Ozzie sounds silly.

[claricebeansmum]

"fluffy green monster who lives in a bin,"

Yes, suits mine well. You have not seen the state of his room, or him

[MrsJiggle86]

I like Oscar, if i have a boy next it will be Oscar for def, but i like Oliver too, but that is my mum and brother's surname so would abit odd.

[fizzpops]

Oscar is cooler but Oliver is timeless. I like both of them.

[piscesmoon]

Oliver. Every other baby seems to be called Oscar at the moment.

[hippipotamiHasLost72lbs]

I prefer Oliver, but only because ds is one. He is in a large school with 90 children per year group, yet amazingly there appears to be only one Oliver in Y3, none in Y4, one in Y5 and my one in Y6. (I work at the school hency the reason I know the whereabouts of the Olivers )

Dd has an Oscar in her class (again yeargroup of 90) but there are two in the nursery and a baby born to a friend a few months ago has been called Oscar. So I think the Oscars are more up and coming whereas the popularity of Oliver seems more steady. (based on my limited research anyway

Personally I find the name Oscar a bit harsh sounding.

[hippipotamiHasLost72lbs]

Have to add though, even though ds is called Oliver he appears to have become Oz or Ozzie amongst his friends
(He was Ollie up until a few months ago)

[bibbitybobbityCAT]

Oliver. But I am biased .

[PumpkinProject]

I do like the name Oliver, but have to say that every other boy where I live is called that. I haven't encountered any Oscars and for that reason I prefer it - I like slightly more unusual names.

And Oscar the Grouch is one of the coolest creatures ever.

BTW I thought the same about Harry (cool but v common) vs Henry (similar but more unusual) when choosing DS's middle name.

[Ondine]

I don't think Oscar will go top 5 like Oliver has. It's a bit too quirky.

I prefer Oscar, it sounds more grown up than Oliver, better for a man imo.

I also really like Otto, that will never go top 10.

[lovemybabyboy]

I much prefer Oscar, but I am biased
I dont know any other Oscar's where I live and know 1 Oliver. I do like the name Oliver too though....just not as much as Oscar

By the way, my Oscar has an Oscar the grouch teddy and he loves it!

[nappyaddict]

I prefer Oscar. In my area Oliver is much more common than Oscar.

[nooka]

According to Name Voyager they are about as popular as each other (Oliver at 118 and Oscar at 119 last year). The difference being that Oliver has become much more popular over the last 10 years or so whereas Oscar started to get popular in the 90's. So in fact Oliver is catching up to Oscar's popularity.

[nooka]

On the other hand Otto was very popular in the 1890s-1900s. The most popular "O" name at the moment is Owen btw.

www.babynamewizard.com/voyager#prefix=O&ms=true&sw=m&exact=false

[CheerfulYank]

I like Oscar. Oz is a cool nickname too.

[gladders]

much prefer oliver, and love ollie as a NN, but it is just way too popular round here - 20 boys in ds's year and 4 are called oliver...

[gladders]

re-read OP. I prefer oliver as i think it's a more masculine name. oscar for me is grat for a little baby/toddler - but not so good for a strapping teenager.

i don't think oscar will ever be quite as popular as oliver, but there are still quite a few about.

[weepootle]

much prefer oliver

[liliputlady]

I like Oliver