How Did the “Oscars” Get its Name and How Did the Academy Award Statuettes Originate?

Since 1928, the Academy Awards have been issued by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for excellence in filmmaking.

The statuettes were nicknamed “Oscar” in 1931 by Margaret Herrick, a secretary at the academy who, upon seeing one for the first time, exclaimed, “Why it looks just like my uncle Oscar.”

Her uncle was Oscar Pierce, a wheat farmer.