A modern literary name from Germanic *ober* ('upper') roots, popularized by fantasy works.
R. Martin's epic fantasy series "A Song of Ice and Fire" and its HBO adaptation "Game of Thrones," where Prince Oberyn Martell of Dorne — the Red Viper — became one of the most charismatic and beloved characters in the series. Played by Pedro Pascal in the television version, Oberyn was brilliant, bisexual, fiercely loyal, and breathtakingly skilled with a spear.
His brief but incandescent appearance made an indelible mark on popular culture, and his name followed. Martin almost certainly built Oberyn on the foundation of Oberon — the fairy king of Germanic and French medieval romance, derived from the Old High German Alberich or from Frankish elements meaning "elf-ruler" or "noble bear." Shakespeare immortalized Oberon as the imperious, mischievous King of the Fairies in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," making the name synonymous with enchantment, power, and capriciousness.
One of Uranus's moons, discovered by William Herschel in 1787 and named by his son John after Shakespearean characters, is called Oberon. Martin's variation — dropping the final vowel to Oberyn — gave the name a harder, more martial edge while retaining its fairy-tale grandeur. Parents who choose Oberyn today are typically readers or viewers who loved the character's unapologetic complexity and physical grace. The name is unusual enough that it will always draw a curious question, and the answer — a prince, a warrior, a grieving brother who fought for justice against impossible odds — is one of the more compelling origin stories a name can carry into a child's life.