oswalda. LANGUAGE FAMILY: indo-european > germanic > west germanic > german ORIGIN: germanic NAME ROOT: *ANSUZ / ANS *WALDAʐ > ANSWALD / OSWALD. MEANING: This name means “divine power, divine rulership, God rules, illustrious defender, defender of the house”.
Meaning & History. From the Old English elements os "god" and wine "friend". Saint Oswin was a 7th-century king of Northumbria. After the Norman conquest this name was used less, and it died out after the 14th century. It was briefly revived in the 19th century.
