Iver
A masculine Scandinavian name derived from the Old Norse name "Ivarr", meaning "warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 984 living Americans carry the first name Iver. It is a predominantly male name (94.1% of registrations). The average person named Iver today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Iver births was 2023 (86 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Iver. 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
984
~ 1 in 348,328 Americans
Peak year
2023
86 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,191
Tracked since 1884
Gender
Gender distribution for Iver
Iver leans heavily male at 94.1% of total registrations, but 102 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Iver as a male name
- Ranked #2,191 in 2024
- 66 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (81 births)
Iver as a female name
- Ranked #16,119 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1920 (10 births)
Popularity
Iver: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Iver from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 380 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
Iver 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 Iver during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ivers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Minnesota, California, North Dakota recorded the most babies named Iver, while New York, Indiana, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 30 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Iver
The name Iver is of Scandinavian origin, derived from the Old Norse name Ivarr, which itself is a compound of the elements yr (meaning "archer" or "bow") and arr (meaning "warrior"). The name has its roots in the Viking culture and was popular among the Norse settlers who traveled and established communities throughout Northern Europe during the Viking Age (8th to 11th centuries).
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Iver comes from the Icelandic Landnámabók, a medieval manuscript that chronicles the settlement of Iceland. It mentions an Iver the Footless (Ivarr inn fótlami) who was among the first Norwegian settlers to arrive in Iceland in the late 9th century.
In the realm of mythology, the name Iver holds significance as it was borne by Ivar the Boneless (Ivarr inn beinlausi), a legendary Viking ruler and one of the sons of the famous Viking king Ragnar Lodbrok. Ivar the Boneless is a prominent figure in the Norse sagas and is depicted as a fearsome and cunning leader who played a crucial role in the Viking invasion of England in the 9th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Iver. One of the earliest was Iver Hvide (c. 1040 – c. 1130), a Danish nobleman and one of the most powerful men in Denmark during the late 11th and early 12th centuries. He was instrumental in the construction of several churches and monasteries, including the Benedictine monastery in Odense.
Another prominent figure was Iver Iversen (1543-1623), a Norwegian merchant and shipowner who played a significant role in the development of the Norwegian shipping industry. He was one of the wealthiest men in Norway during his lifetime and financed several expeditions to Greenland and the Arctic regions.
In more recent times, Iver Jåtten (1854-1936) was a Norwegian folk musician and one of the most influential performers of the traditional Hardanger fiddle. He was a renowned folk artist and helped preserve and popularize traditional Norwegian music.
Iver Giaever (born 1929) is a Norwegian-American physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1973 for his experimental discoveries regarding tunneling phenomena in superconductors. He is also known for his work in biophysics and his contributions to the study of nanoscale materials.
Iver Bunker Mackay (1793-1858) was a Scottish-American naval officer who served in the War of 1812 and later became a prominent shipbuilder and businessman in New York. He founded the Mackay and Aldrich shipyard, which played a significant role in the maritime industry of the time.
People
Iver + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Iver 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
Iver: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Iver?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 984 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Iver 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 348,328 US residents.
Is Iver a common name?
We classify Iver as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,723 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Iver most popular?
The single biggest year for Iver was 2023, when 86 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Iver is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Iver a male name?
Yes, 94.1% of people registered as Iver 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.