Oliver is a given name, also a surname, usually a male given name, derived from the Old French given name Olivier, which may signify "olive tree", though this may be a false etymology, and may be a corruption of a Germanic personal name, cognate with the Scandinavian name "Olaf" or "Ólafur," which carries the meaning of "ancestor," "forbear," or "talisman."^*

The name's popularity during the Middle Ages was augmented by the fact that Olivier was the name of one of Charlemagne's paladins and a friend of the great warrior Roland.^*

Oliver is often shortened to "Ollie", "Oli", "Ol", or even "Iver" or "Ols". Olive too is a good abbreviation, used to denote affection.

Notable People (And One Chimpanzee) Named Oliver

Given Name

• Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), English military leader and politician
• Oliver Bierhoff, (b. 1968), former Germany and AC Milan footballer
• Oliver the chimpanzee (b. c1970)
• John Oliver Cromwell (b. 1940), American television and film actor
• Oliver Goldsmith (1730–1774), Irish writer and physician
• Oliver Hardy (1892-1957), American actor, one half of comedy duo Laurel and Hardy
• Oliver Heaviside (1850-1925), British engineer, mathematician and physicist
• Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809-1894), Physician, writer and American poet
• Oliver of Malmesbury (980-ca. 1066), English monk who is said to have made an early attempt at flight using mechanical wings
• Oliver North, (b. 1943), American government and political figure involved in the Iran-Contra Affair
• Oliver Plunkett (1629-1681), Irish saint and Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland
• Oliver Reed (1938-1999), English actor
• Oliver Stone (b. 1946), American film director
• Oliver (William Oliver Swofford) (1945-2000), American pop singer of the late 1960s
• Oliver Tambo (1917-1993), South African anti-apartheid politician

Last Name

• Bernard Oliver (1919-1995), noted American electrical engineer, astronomer, & SETI advocate
• Jamie Oliver MBE, (b. 1975), British celebrity chef
• Stephen Oliver (1950-1992), British composer
• Susan Oliver (1932-1990), American actress and aviatrix, noted for Star Trek

Other Uses

• The Oliver Corporation is a tractor manufacturer
• Oliver, British Columbia is a small town in the Okanagan Valley known as the Wine Capital of Canada
• Oliver!, a musical and film based on the novel Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens
• Oliver (band) a Romanian rock band
• OLIVER (CICS interactive test/debug) a proprietory Computer Test/debugging product

In popular culture

• Oliver Wendell Douglas, a character on the American television situation comedy Green Acres.
• Cousin Oliver, television jargon used by fans who criticize the addition of new child actors of a particular series (usually, to replace child actors who have grown up since the show started); often, it is metaphorically used by fans to denote when a show "jumped the shark." The term gets its name from a character on the American television situation comedy The Brady Bunch, who was added in the final six episodes of the series.
• Oliver the Great Western Engine, from Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.

Oliver | Olivier (prénom) | Olivér | オリバー | Oliwer | Oliver | Oliver