Find out how popular the first name Gunnar has been for the last 50 years (from 1974 to 2023) and learn more about the meaning and history.

Popularity of Gunnar by gender

Based on the last 50 years of data, Gunnar is more commonly used as a male name, with approximately 100% of people named Gunnar being male.

For the most recent data in 2023, there were 475 male babies and 0 female babies born with the name Gunnar.

The history of the first name Gunnar

The given name Gunnar has its origins in Old Norse, the language spoken by the Viking seafarers of Scandinavia and other parts of northern Europe during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old Norse elements "gunnr," meaning "battle" or "war," and "arr," meaning "warrior" or "soldier." The name can be interpreted to mean "warrior" or "battle-brave."

The earliest recorded instances of the name Gunnar can be traced back to the Icelandic sagas, which were written in the 13th and 14th centuries but often depicted events from several centuries earlier. In these Old Norse literary works, Gunnar appears as the name of various characters, including the heroic figure Gunnar Hámundarson from the Saga of the Volsungs.

The Viking age saw the spread of Old Norse names, including Gunnar, across Scandinavia, parts of the British Isles, and other areas influenced by Norse culture and settlement. As Christianity became more prevalent in the region, the name Gunnar continued to be used, though its meaning may have been reinterpreted to align with Christian values.

Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Gunnar. One of the earliest was Gunnar Eiríksson (c. 1088-1148), a Norwegian chieftain and one of the first settlers of Greenland. Another was Gunnar Grönvall (1563-1618), a Swedish military officer and nobleman who served as a field marshal during the Kalmar War.

During the 19th century, Gunnar Heiberg (1857-1929) was a prominent Norwegian author and playwright, known for works such as "The Balcony" and "Aunt Ulrikka." In the 20th century, Gunnar Myrdal (1898-1987) was a Swedish economist and sociologist who won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1974 for his research on the theory of optimal allocation of resources.

More recently, Gunnar Staalesen (born 1936) is a Norwegian crime fiction writer, best known for his series of novels featuring the private investigator Varg Veum. Another noteworthy figure is Gunnar Nordahl (1920-1995), a Finnish-Swedish writer and journalist who authored several novels and collections of short stories.

Data source

The first name data used on this page comes from the Social Security Administration (SSA). They've been collecting data on baby names since 1880.

The history and meaning of the name Gunnar was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Gunnar, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!