Boys' names beginning with O
Names official statistics record as used for boys, whose recorded spelling begins with this letter.
Usage is read from official statistics — which of a registrar's lists published the name — never from an opinion about the name and never as a statement about any child. A name published on both lists is recorded as used for both and is not in either of these pages.
242 names beginning with "O"
Full profile: deeper editorial detail. Official popularity record: sourced statistical evidence, editorial detail not yet written. Name identity record: exists in the catalogue with limited current evidence. Namewise is expanding editorial depth over time.
Commonly interpreted as 'olive tree', though the true root is debated.
Possibly 'deer friend' (Irish), or possibly derived from an Old English/Old Norse name meaning 'god spear' — the origin is genuinely disputed.
Traditionally interpreted as 'little deer', combining an Old Irish word for deer or stag with a diminutive ending.
The origin is genuinely disputed between two theories: one traces it to an Old Irish phrase commonly rendered as 'deer friend'; the other links it to a Germanic compound commonly interpreted as 'god's spear', possibly brought to Ireland by Norse settlers.
From Old Norse Óðinn, connected to the root 'óðr' meaning 'frenzied, furious, inspired'. The supreme god of war, wisdom and death in Norse mythology, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *Wōdanaz.
From Old Irish Odrán, combining 'odar' (dun-coloured, greyish-brown, tan) with a diminutive suffix — 'little dun/ashen one'. Borne by St Patrick's charioteer Odrán and by St Odhrán (Oran) of Iona, companion of St Columba.
The root element (odar) is tagged by Behind the Name's own category system as relating to a dun or grayish-brown colour, but no source gives an explicit stated translation — treat this as a tentative, lower-confidence reading rather than a settled meaning.
Showing 24 of 60 names on this page.