Ossian is an Anglicised form of the IrishOisín and the Scottish GaelicOisein. The latter names are derived from a byname constructed from the element os ("stag").[1] Another Anglicised form of Oisín is Osian.[2]
Ossian was one of several names popularised by the romantic works of James Macpherson (died 1796), composer of so-called Ossianic poetry.[3] In consequence, it and other Ossianic names—such as Malvina, Minona, Orla, Oscar, and Selma—were enthusiastically adopted in Scandinavia in the nineteenth century. The specific adoption of Ossian in Denmark does not appear to have been a direct result of the works of Macpherson, however, but owes its popularity there as an import from Sweden. In this way Ossian is similar to the Ossianic names Oscar and Selma which were introduced into Denmark by Swedish immigrants.[4][5]
People with the name
Ossian Berger (1849–1914), Swedish politician and lawyer
Ossian Brown (born 1969), English musician and artist
Ossian D'Ambrosio (born 1970), Italian modern Druid, musician and jeweler
Ossian Donner (1866–1957), Finnish industrialist, engineer, senator and diplomat
Ossian B. Hart (1821–1874), tenth Governor of Florida, lawyer and Florida Supreme Court justice
Fellows-Jensen, G (2001). "Danish Place-names in Scotland and Scottish Personal Names in Denmark: A Survey of Recent Research". In Fellows-Jensen, G (ed.). Denmark and Scotland: The Cultural and Environmental Resources of Small Nations. Historisk-filosofiske Meddelelser (series vol. 82). Copenhagen: Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. pp. 123–138. ISBN87-7876-229-4. ISSN0106-0481.
Vigsø, O (2005). "168: The Language of 19th Century Translations II: Danish". In Bandle, O; Braunmüller, K; Jahr, EH; Karker, A; Naumann, H-P; Teleman, U; Elmevik, L; Widmark, G (eds.). The Nordic Languages: An International Handbook of the History of the North Germanic Languages. Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft (series vol. 22). Vol. 2. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 1513–1514. ISBN3-11-017149-X.
Name list
This page or section lists people that share the same given name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.