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Ivar

#1,384 in 2025Boys' name

Yew, through Ívarr

Ivar has been given to 1,468 babies in the U.S. since 1896. In 2025 it ranked #1,384 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 133 recorded.

Babies named Ivar, 2025

1 in 24,900

Ivar over time, 1880–2025

Boys
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Ivar: meaning, origin, and history

Yew, through Ívarr

Old Norse

What Ivar means

Ivar belongs to the name family reached through Ivar → Ívarr. Its meaning is “yew”.

Origin, language, and formation

Ivar is used in Cebuano, Danish, Estonian, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish. Its origins include Old Norse.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Ivor, Ívar, Iver and Ívarr.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Norwegian Nynorsk, Ivar is pronounced /²iːvar/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,468 boys were recorded with the name Ivar between 1896 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 133 in 2025; its best national rank was #1,079 in 1911.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #1,881 in 2020 to #1,384 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #7,703 in 2015 to #1,384 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Ivar?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 24,900
133 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 12,800
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,384
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
17,279 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Ivar sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5002%

Put another way: gather 17,279 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Ivar. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Ivars were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Ivar was born before 2019 — so the typical Ivar is around 6 today.

Median birth year
2019
About 6 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
45.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
66.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
1,118
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 45.5% of all recorded uses (668).

Is Ivar rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+139
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+497
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+6,319
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
13.30×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (133)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
39.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,079
1911

Spellings of Ivar

Ivar is not the most common spelling — Evan is, with 27.8% against Ivar's 0.14%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Ivar is used

Across 2016–2025, Ivar was most concentrated in Minnesota — about 1 in 14,286 boys, against 1 in 27,329 across all states with data. It was least common in Ohio (1 in 100,000).

17 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Minnesota1 in 14,286
  2. 2Wisconsin1 in 16,667
  3. 3California1 in 20,000
  4. 4Texas1 in 20,000
  5. 5Pennsylvania1 in 25,000
  6. 6Florida1 in 33,333
  7. 7Utah1 in 33,333
  8. 8Arizona1 in 50,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Ivar around the world

Where Ivar ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2016–2025
    #639
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2017–2025
    #333
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    2022–2022
    #657
    in 2022
  • France
    2015–2025
    #1,623
    in 2025
  • Norway
    1880–2025
    #111
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2017–2024
    #1,698
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1949–1965
    #574
    in 1965

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Ivar by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,384
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 497
Best rank ever
#1,079
1911
Peak year
2025
133 that year
First recorded
1896
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,468
Count in 2025
133

Names similar to Ivar

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

IvaanLavarIvannIvalIvaLevarJavarIvanIvanshShavarTrevarZoravarIvarsAlvarIvaanshBolivarIvarrNavarTavarSvarSavarDevarIvanoJoravar

Sibling names for Ivar

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Ivar

Top names of 2025, Ivar's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 1911Boys' names starting with IIcelandic Boy NamesNorse & Viking NamesNorwegian Boy NamesViking Boy Names