Way back, when the statue was first designed, somebody exclaimed “That looks like my uncle Oscar!”, and the name stuck. Maybe not an uncle, but some acquaintance, ex-husband, relative, etc.
The origin of the name Oscar is disputed. One biography of Bette Davis, who was a president of the Academy, claims she named the Oscar after her first husband, band leader Harmon Oscar Nelson.[21] Another claimed origin is the Academy’s Executive Secretary, Margaret Herrick, who, when she first saw the award in 1931, made reference to the statuette’s reminding her of her “Uncle Oscar” (a nickname for her cousin Oscar Pierce).[22] Columnist Sidney Skolsky was present during Herrick’s naming and seized the name in his byline, “Employees have affectionately dubbed their famous statuette ‘Oscar’.” [23]
One of the earliest mentions of the term Oscar dates to a Time magazine article about the 1934 6th Academy Awards.[24] Walt Disney also thanked the Academy for his Oscar as early as 1932.[25] The trophy officially received the name “Oscar” in 1939 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
You heard it here first. There will come a day when the Hollywood bimbos will DEMAND that the statue be redesigned to look like a woman because its current look is too patriarchal and repressive.