Neha Patil (Editor)

Oliver (given name)

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Gender
  
masculine

Word/name
  
Old French

Oliver (given name)

Region of origin
  
medieval France, medieval England

Oliver is a masculine given name of Old French origin; Oliver is one of Charlemagne's retainers in the 11th-century Song of Roland.

The name was generally associated with the Latin term/name olivarius "olive tree planter", but may have been connected with the Germanic names *wulfa- "wolf" and *χarja- "army", or the Old Norse Óleifr (Ólaf); or a genuinely West Germanic name, perhaps from ala- "all" and wēra "true", or from alf "elf" and hari "army, warrior" (in both cases possibly cognate with Álvaro).

Modern variants include French Olivier, Hungarian Olivér, Irish Oilivéar, Scottish Gaelic Oilvreis, Italian Oliviero, Spanish Oliverio.

The name was introduced to England by the Normans. 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 Dickens' Oliver Twist (1838). Pet forms of the English given name include Ollie and Noll.

In 2013 it was the fifth most popular name for boys in Australia.

Persons with the given name

  • Oliver Ekman-Larsson (b. 1991), National Hockey League Defenceman for the Arizona Coyotes
  • Oliver Bozanic (b. 1989), Australian footballer
  • Oliverius Carafa (1430–1511), Italian Cardinal, papal legate to King Ferdinand of Naples and Ambassador of Naples to the Holy See
  • Oliver (singer) (1945–2000), American pop singer, real name William Oliver Swofford
  • Oliver De Lancey (American loyalist) (1718–1785), merchant, New York Loyalist politician and Major-general during the American War of Independence
  • Oliver De Lancey (British Army general) (c. 1749–1822), British Army officer who took part in the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars
  • Oliver De Lancey (British Army and Spanish Legion officer) (1803–1837), British Army officer who volunteered for the Spanish Legion and died fighting in Spain during the First Carlist War
  • Oliver Dobbins (born 1941), American football player
  • Oliver Belmont (1858–1908), American socialite
  • Oliver Bulleid (1882–1970), British railway and mechanical engineer
  • Oliver Campos-Hull (born 1987), Spanish racing driver
  • Oliver Carminow (died 1597), English politician, Member in the Parliament of England
  • Oliver Churchill (1914–1997), British officer during World War II
  • Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658), English military and political leader and later Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland
  • Oliver Ditson (1811-1888), American businessman
  • Oliver Dragojević (born 1947), Croatian pop singer
  • Oliver Ellsworth (1745–1807), American lawyer, politician, senator
  • Oliver Evans (1755–1819), American inventor
  • Oliver Gavin (born 1972), UK racing driver
  • Oliver Goldsmith (1730–1774), Irish novelist, playwright and poet
  • Oliver Goonetilleke (1892-1978), first indigenous Governor-General of Ceylon
  • Oliver Hardy (1892–1957), American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy
  • Oliver Heywood (1825–1892), English banker and philanthropist
  • Oliver Hirschbiegel (born 1957), German film director
  • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841–1935), American jurist
  • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894), American physician, poet
  • Oliver Hudson (born 1976), American actor
  • Oliver Hughes (1844–1911), US decorated Union Army soldier
  • Oliver Ingrosso (born 1989), Swedish DJ, record producer and actor. Also credited as Oliver Wahlgren-Ingrosso
  • Oliver Jackson (1933–1994), aka Bops Junior, American jazz drummer
  • Oliver Jackson-Cohen (born 1986), English actor and model
  • Oliver Jarvis (born 1984), English racing driver
  • Oliver Jones (Irish MP) (died 1664), Welsh-Irish soldier and politician
  • Oliver Kahn (born 1969), German football goalkeeper
  • Oliver Kamm (born 1963), British writer and journalist
  • Oliver Knussen (born 1952), British composer and conductor
  • Oliver Lieb (born 1969), German electronic music producer and DJ
  • Oliver Locker-Lampson (1880–1954), British politician and naval officer
  • Oliver Lodge (1851–1940), British physicist and writer
  • Oliver W. F. Lodge (1878-1955), English poet and author
  • Oliver Lyttelton, 1st Viscount Chandos (1893–1972), British businessman and politician
  • Oliver Martini (born 1971), Italian racing driver
  • Oliver McCall (born 1965), American heavyweight boxer
  • Oliver Messel (1904–1978), English artist and pioneering stage designer
  • Oliver Minatel (born 1992), Brazilian footballer
  • Oliver P. Morton (1823–1877), American politician
  • Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi, Zimbabwean musician
  • Oliver Nelson (1932–1975), American jazz musician
  • Oliver North (born 1943), US Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel, conservative political commentator and television host, military historian, and author
  • Oliver Parker (born 1960), English film director
  • Oliver Penrose (born 1929), British theoretical physicist
  • Oliver Perry (1785–1819), American naval commander
  • Oliver Petrucciani (born 1969), Swiss motorcycle racer
  • Oliver Plunkett (1625–1681), Irish Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, last martyr of the Popish Plot
  • Oliver Postgate (1925–2008), English animator, puppeteer and writer
  • Oliver Ranasinghe, 9th Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force
  • Oliver Reed (1938–1999), English actor
  • Oliver Sacks (1933-2015), British-American neurologist, writer
  • Oliver Selfridge (1926–2008), English businessman, computer scientist and pioneer of artificial intelligence
  • Oliver Sin (born 1985), Hungarian painter
  • Oliver Smithies (born 1925), British-born American geneticist
  • Oliver Stanley (1896–1950), British politician
  • Oliver Stone (born 1946), American film director, screenwriter, producer
  • Oliver Strachey (1874–1960), British civil servant in the Foreign Office, cryptographer
  • Oliver Sykes (born 1986), English singer-songwriter
  • Oliver Tambo (1917–1993), South African anti-apartheid politician and a central figure in the African National Congress
  • Oliver Tobias (born 1947), UK-based film, stage, and television actor
  • Oliver Wakeman (born 1972), rock keyboardist and composer, former member of Yes, where he replaced his father, Rick Wakeman
  • Oliver Wallace (1887–1963), British composer and conductor

    • References

    Oliver (given name) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA