Oswald?

Hello everyone!! I was just wondering about the name [name_m]Oswald[/name_m] because I really love it. However, I am aware that this is infamously the name of the guy who shot JFK. ([name_u]Lee[/name_u] [name_m]Harvey[/name_m] [name_m]Oswald[/name_m]).

I’m British so the association really isn’t that strong and I only know about it because i like history and watched a few documentaries about him. I don’t think that many people would know the connection over here. It doesn’t put me off personally.

So my question is whether you think it’s usable?

edit: i would probably use it only as a middle

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I think it’s perfectly usable! As a European, even though I do know of the guy who shot JFK, he’s not even the first [name_m]Oswald[/name_m] that comes to mind. It definitely wouldn’t be too strong an association in the UK.
It’s such a handsome, nerdy-cute name and I love the nicknames [name_m]Ozzy[/name_m] and [name_u]Wally[/name_u]!

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I think [name_m]Oswald[/name_m] is totally usable and I really like and appreciate the name.

Unfortunately there will always be negative associations with every name and unless it’s something totally totally obvious it is hard to avoid.

For me the first thing that comes to mind is [name_m]Ozzy[/name_m] or [name_u]Wally[/name_u]

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I’m British and my first thought is [name_m]Oswald[/name_m] [name_f]Mosley[/name_f], who was the leader of the British Union of Fascists and a friend of Hitler. To me he’s an even more problematic association than [name_u]Lee[/name_u] [name_m]Harvey[/name_m] [name_m]Oswald[/name_m].

I don’t care for this name because of the negative associations.

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I’m American and definitely know of the association with LHO, but the first thing that came to mind was a cartoon octopus, so I think particularly in the UK, you might be able to get away with this one.

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thank you!! I love [name_m]Ozzy[/name_m] too :blush:

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thank you!! this is kind of my thinking. Surely most names will have some bad connection to them.

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thank you for your honesty :)) i’ve never heard of that guy but he sounds like a nightmare.

this made me laugh :joy: that’s cute! thank you xx

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oh.

I’m Canadian and history isn’t really something that interests me so I didn’t know this was the name of a bad person.

If you’re not an American, I don’t think you should be expected to know the finer details of American history like names, so you should be safe. And most importantly, names of bad people don’t deserve to be remembered, in my opinion. I wish we only referred to them with code names (eg US assassin #4, [name_m]German[/name_m] dictator #1, the mustache man, the orange combover, etc) so that we could stop worrying about the bad people who have ruined otherwise perfectly good names.

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I really like [name_m]Oswald[/name_m] and I think it’s totally usable, the nn [name_m]Ozzy[/name_m] is absolutely adorable and as you said the association isn’t as significant over here!

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I would recommend reading about him before using this name, because for many British people he is the number one association. I don’t mean to offend, but if I heard of a baby named [name_m]Oswald[/name_m] in my local area, I would wonder (to myself) if [name_f]Mosley[/name_f] was the namesake because it’s such an unusual choice.

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It’s a cute name and I have other associations, he’s not the first one.

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i’m with you on that. I don’t see why some names should be ruined by bad namesakes.

thank you!! x

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no i’m not offended. Your point is important.

This isn’t for a real child btw.

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thank you! x

i think I might go for [name_m]Oswin[/name_m] instead.

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I think it’s sweet & usable! I always forget about that connection. I know a little [name_m]Oswald[/name_m] nn [name_m]Ozzie[/name_m] & the people who brought up the connection were all much older.

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