Ívar as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Ívar

What is the meaning of the name Ívar ?

The baby name Ívar is a Male name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced /ˈiːvar/ — "EE-var" (commonly anglicized as "EYE-var").

Ívar is Norse, Scandinavian in Origin.

Ívar is the Icelandic form of Old Norse Ívarr, built from the elements ýr “yew, bow” and -arr “warrior,” likely ultimately from Proto-Germanic *īwaz + *harjaz. The sense is “yew-warrior” - by extension “archer” or “bowman,” since yew wood was prized for bows. The double -rr of Old Norse simplifies in modern Icelandic to -r, while retaining the acute accent on Í.

Carried across the North Atlantic in the Viking Age, the name appears on runic inscriptions and in sagas; its most famous bearer is Ívarr hinn Beinlausi (Ivar the Boneless), leader of the Great Heathen Army. Norse settlement in Ireland produced the Gaelic form Ímar and the dynastic byname Uí Ímair. Related forms and cognates include Ívarr (Old Norse), Ivar (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish), Iver (Norwegian), and Faroese Ívar; it is sometimes equated with English Ivor, though that name is etymologically Welsh and separate.