Ivar
A masculine Scandinavian name derived from the Old Norse elements "yr" meaning "yew" and "arr" meaning "warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 995 living Americans carry the first name Ivar. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ivar today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ivar births was 2023 (126 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ivar. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
995
~ 1 in 344,477 Americans
Peak year
2023
126 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,522
Tracked since 1896
Popularity
Ivar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ivar from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 535 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ivar by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ivar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ivars live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Ivar, while Utah, North Carolina, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 22 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ivar
The name Ivar has its origins in Old Norse, the language spoken by the Vikings and Scandinavian peoples during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the elements "yr," meaning yew tree, and "arr," meaning warrior or archer. Thus, the name Ivar can be interpreted as "archer" or "warrior skilled with the bow."
Ivar was a popular name among the Vikings, who revered archery and valued skill in warfare. It first appeared in ancient Norse sagas and records, such as the Icelandic Sagas, which recount the exploits of legendary Norse figures. One notable bearer of the name was Ivar the Boneless, a Viking leader and son of the legendary Ragnar Lodbrok, who lived in the 9th century and is said to have conquered parts of England and Ireland.
In the 11th century, the name Ivar was recorded in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings and population in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. This suggests that the name had spread from Scandinavia to England, likely through Viking settlement and influence.
Throughout history, the name Ivar has been borne by several notable individuals, including Ivar Vidfamne, a semi-legendary Swedish king who ruled in the 7th century and is said to have conquered parts of Denmark and Norway. Another famous Ivar was Ivar Aasen, a Norwegian philologist and poet who was instrumental in the development of the Nynorsk written standard for Norwegian, based on Norwegian dialects. He lived from 1813 to 1896.
In literature, the name Ivar appears in the works of renowned authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien and George R.R. Martin. In Tolkien's legendarium, Ivar is mentioned as a name among the Rohirrim, the horse-lords of Rohan. In Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, Ivar Halfricco is a member of the Night's Watch, sworn to guard the realms of men against the threats beyond the Wall.
Other notable bearers of the name include Ivar Ingimarsson, an Icelandic footballer who played for various English clubs, including Reading and Wolverhampton Wanderers, from 1997 to 2011. Ivar Ballangrud was a Norwegian speed skater who won two gold medals at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
People
Ivar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ivar as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ivar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ivar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 995 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ivar going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 344,477 US residents.
Is Ivar a common name?
We classify Ivar as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,334 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ivar most popular?
The single biggest year for Ivar was 2023, when 126 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ivar is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ivar a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ivar in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.