According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the origins of the name are uncertain, but 'a popular story has been that an Academy librarian and eventual executive director, Margaret Herrick, thought it resembled her Uncle Oscar and said so; and that the Academy staff began referring to it as Oscar.'

As recognizable as any Hollywood celebrity, the golden Oscar statuette has been around since the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929. The iconic trophy depicts a knight holding a sword and standing on a film reel with five spokes, each representing one of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ five original branches: actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers. Although formally known as the Academy Award of Merit, the statuette, which stands 13.5 inches high and weighs 8.5 pounds, was officially nicknamed Oscar in 1939. It’s uncertain exactly where the nickname came from, although credit often is given to Academy librarian Margaret Herrick, who upon first seeing the statuette reportedly claimed it looked like her uncle Oscar.

Last year's 85th Annual Academy Awards was rebranded as simply The Oscars, after the statuette winners receive. 'We're rebranding it,' Oscar show co-producer Neil Meron told TheWrap. 'We're not calling it 'the 85th annual Academy Awards,' which keeps it mired somewhat in a musty way. It's called 'The Oscars.'' But how did the statuette get that nickname?

The popular theory is that the nickname for the The Academy Award of Merit—as the statuette is actually named—was coined by Academy Award librarian and future Director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Margaret Herrick. The story goes that when she first saw the statue in 1931, she said that it looked like her Uncle Oscar. According to Emanuel Levy, author of All about Oscar: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards, columnist Sidney Skolsky was there when she said this and would later write that “Employees have affectionately dubbed their famous statuette ‘Oscar.’”

Last year's 85th Annual Academy Awards was rebranded as simply The Oscars, after the statuette winners receive. 'We're rebranding it,' Oscar show co-producer Neil Meron told TheWrap. 'We're not calling it 'the 85th annual Academy Awards,' which keeps it mired somewhat in a musty way. It's called 'The Oscars.'' But how did the statuette get that nickname?

The popular theory is that the nickname for the The Academy Award of Merit—as the statuette is actually named—was coined by Academy Award librarian and future Director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Margaret Herrick. The story goes that when she first saw the statue in 1931, she said that it looked like her Uncle Oscar. According to Emanuel Levy, author of All about Oscar: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards, columnist Sidney Skolsky was there when she said this and would later write that “Employees have affectionately dubbed their famous statuette ‘Oscar.’”

While the first documented use of “Oscar” as the nickname for the statuette was made by Skolsky—in a 1934 New York Daily News article—there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that Skolsky was actually responsible for the above quote. Skolsky, in his 1975 memoirs, Don’t Get Me Wrong, I Love Hollywood, claimed he first used the nickname referencing a classic

According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the origins of the name are uncertain, but 'a popular story has been that an Academy librarian and eventual executive director, Margaret Herrick, thought it resembled her Uncle Oscar and said so; and that the Academy staff began referring to it as Oscar.'