Ivar
2025 SSA
About Ivar
Closer to the original Norse name Ívarr, it is part of a small group of names with similar roots: Ivor, Iver, Ivo, Ives, and Evander, which all make rugged yet gentle feeling choices. Used throughout Scandinavia, Ivar is in the Swedish Top 100 and is also on the rise in the UK, outranking the English variation, Ivor.
Deriving from the Old Norse elements, ýr meaning "yew tree" or "bow" and herr meaning "warrior", the name relates to archery and soldiers who carry bow and arrows. It was brought to England by Scandinavian settlers in the Middle Ages, and to the US by in the 19th century. Willa Cather features an Ivar in her novel O Pioneers! which tells the story of a family of Swedish-American immigrants.
Used by just a handful of boys each year in the US until 2016, the TV series Vikings
may have brought it to more people's attention, when it featured the historical figure, Ivar Ragnarsson (or "Ivar the Boneless"). In 2023, it was given to around 125 boys -- the highest number of Ivars born in a single year as yet.
Pronounced EE-var.
As of October 2026, Ivar ranked #1384 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #1080 in 1911.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | #2,611 | 48 | 25.9 |
| 2018 | #2,107 | 67 | 36.9 |
| 2019 | #1,779 | 87 | 48.5 |
| 2020 | #1,879 | 79 | 45.8 |
| 2021 | #1,741 | 93 | 53.2 |
| 2022 | #1,499 | 121 | 69.3 |
| 2023 | #1,440 | 126 | 73.7 |
| 2024 | #1,522 | 116 | 67.3 |
| 2025 | #1,384 | 133 | 77.9 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Ivar.
Ivar on lists
Famous Ivars
- Ivar (or Ímar) Ragnarsson
Viking king
- Ivar Vidfamne
legendary Danish king of at least Scania and Zealand
- Ivar of Waterford
Norse king of Waterford and briefly King of Dublin
- Ivar of Limerick
last Norse king of Limerick
- Ímar Ua Donnabáin (Ivor O'Donovan)
legendary Irish navigator and sorcerer
- Ivar Hippe
Norwegian consultant and former journalist
- Ivar Frithiof Andresen
Norwegian opera singer
- Ivar Ballangrud
Norwegian speed skater
- Ivar Otto Bendixson
Swedish mathematician
- Ivar Bern
Norwegian chess player
- Ivar Formo
Norwegian cross,country skier
- Ivar Asbjørn Følling
Norwegian physician
- Ivar Giaever
Norwegian physicist
- Ivars Godmanis
prime minister of Latvia 1990,1993, 2007–2009
- Ivar Haglund
Seattle folk singer and founder of Ivar's
- Ivar Jacobson
Swedish computer scientist
- Ivar Kants
Australian actor
- Ivar Larsen Kirkeby
Garstad, Norwegian politician
- Ivar Kleiven
Norwegian historian and poet
- Ivar Kreuger
Swedish businessman
- Ivar Langen
Norwegian rector
- Ivar Lo
Johansson, Swedish writer
- Ivar Lykke
Norwegian politician and prime minister from 1926 to 1928
- Ivar Rooth
Swedish banker
- Ivar Skulstad
Norwegian politician
- Ivar Bergersen Sælen
Norwegian politician
- Ivar Tengbom
Swedish architect
- Ivar Peterson Tveiten
Norwegian politician
- Ivar Smilga
Bolshevik revolutionary leader
- Ivar Vennerström
Swedish politician
- Ivar Enger
Norwegian former,guitarist of Darkthrone
- Ivar Aasen
Norwegian lexicographer, creator of Nynorsk
Ivar in pop culture
- Ivar
a character in the video game Tales Of Xilla, pronounced "eye,ver"
- Ivar the Timewalker
Valiant Comics universe
- Ivar the Boneless
A character from the tv show "Vikings."