Ivar (Old Norse Ívarr) is a Scandinavian masculine given name. Another variant of the name is Iver, which is more common in Norway. The Old Norse name has several possible etymologies. In North Germanic phonology, several of the elements common to Germanic names became homophonous. The first element Ívarr may contain yr "yew" and -arr (from hari, "warrior"), but it may have become partly conflated with Ingvar, and possibly Joar (element "horse"). The second element -arr may alternatively also be from geir "spear" or it may be var "protector".[1] The name was adopted into English as Ivor, into Gaelic as Ìomhar, into Estonian as Aivar or Aivo and into Latvian as Ivars.

Notable people and characters with the name include:

Pre-Modern

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Modern

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Ivar Smilga

Fictional characters

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See also

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  • Ivars, Latvian masculine given name derived from Ivar

References

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  1. ^ nordicnames.de, citing Lena Peterson: Nordiskt runnamnslexikon (2002), Árni Dahl: Navnabókin (2005), Kristoffer Kruken og Ola Stemshaug: Norsk Personnamnleksikon (1995), Roland Otterbjörk: Svenska förnamn (1979).