Norse Boys Names

- Still going strong

The Old Norse Boys Names goes more than 2000 years back, and many of them are still popular in the Scandinavian countries. Most people have heard about the Vikings and the Viking Age, but did you ever wonder what names they gave their children?

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken in Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, the Faroes, Åland, Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales, Isle of Man, Normandy, Vinland, the Volga and places in between during the Viking Age and until about 1300.



Many names from that periode has still its relatives, and even if the writing is a little bit different, the names are still recognizeable.

You might also be interested in reading about the Old Norse Girls Names

But now: The Norse Boys Names. Lets take a look at some of these names now, and as the owner of this site, I'll start with my own name.

Vebjørn

Vebjørn is a male name, with its origin in the old Norse boys name Vébjǫrn. The first part might come out of the Old Norse words "vé", which means home or altar for offerings, or also vér (fight) or even the Gothic "weiha" which means "priest".

The second part of the name is Old Norse for "bear".

Most known meaning: "home" and "bear".

Official name day: March 31. (in Norway)

Popularity in Norway (2006):

Norwegian statistics about Vebjørn: 1426 men. Ranked as nr. 254

Vidar

Vidar is also a male name with its origin in the Old-Norse name Víðarr.

Vidar is put together by the two words víðr («forrest») og arr («warrior»).The name can mean "The warrior from the Forrest"


Most known meaning: "forrest" og "warrior"

Official name day: December 29. (in Norway)


Popularity in Norway (2006):

Norwegian statistics about Vidar: 9681 men. Ranked as nr. 64

Øystein, Øistein, Eystein and Eistein

Øystein, Øistein, Eystein and Eistein are boysnames, outled from the Old-Norse name Eysteinn, where "ey" means "happiness", and "steinn" comes from "stone".

The meaning can from that be "a stone that brings luck" or "happiness". Østen was the old-Danish and old-Swedish way of the name.


Most known meaning: "Stone of Luck"

Official name day: January 26. (in Norway)


Popularity in Norway (2006):

Norwegian statistics about these names:

Øystein: 11491 men. Ranked as nr. 48

Øistein: 1175 men. Ranked as nr. 282

Eystein: 352 men. Ranked as nr. 467

Eistein: Less than 200 men are named Eistein

Tormod

Tormod is a male name, with origin in the Old-Norse name Þormóðr. The name can be put together by the Old-Norse names of the god Tor (Þórr) and móðr which means mood or courage. It can also come from the Old-Norse þormóðr ("brave").

Most known meaning: "Brave" or "Tor" + "Courage"


Official name day: August 18. (in Norway)


Popularity in Norway (2006):

Norwegian statistics about these names:

Tormod: 3264 men. Ranked as nr. 159

Thormod: 250 men. Ranked as nr. 557

Audun

Audun is a Norwegian boys name with its origin in the Old-Norse, meaning "rich friend".
The name Audun is Norwegian form of the name "Audvin", which contains the name-parts "aud" and "vin"."Aud" comes from Old-Norse language adn means "richness" or "wealth", while "vin" is a Old-Norse word for "friend"

Most known meaning: "rich friend"


Official name day: March 1. (in Norway)


Popularity in Norway (2006)

Norwegian statistics about the name Audun: 3877 men. Ranked as nr. 136.

Bjarne

Bjarne is a male name with Old-Norse origin. It is related to the names Bjørn, Bjørngeir and Bjørnulv.

Bjarne then means "bear", or actually "the brown animal", and symbolizes power and strength.

Most known meaning: "bear"


Official name day: June 18. (in Norway)


Popularity in Norway (2006):

Norwegian statistics about the name Bjarne: 7262 men. Ranked as nr. 86.

Bjørn

Bjørn is a male name, and has origin in the Old-Norse "bjorn" or the old-nordic *bernuR which both means "bear",or also "the brown animal".

Most known meaning: "bear"

Official name day: June 18. (in Norway)


Popularity in Norway (2006)

Norwegian statistics about the name Bjørn: 40809 men. Ranked as nr. 3

Dagfinn

Dagfinn is a male name, with origin in the Old-Norse name "Dagfinnr" or "Dagfidr", which comes from the Old-Norse word "dagr", meaning "day" or the norse god "Dag", and the word "finnr" which in norse language was the name on Sami people.

Most known meaning: "day" and "finn" (like Sami people from Finland)


Official name day: January 2. (in Norway)


Popularity in Norway (2006):

Norwegian statistics about the name Dagfinn:

2994 men. Ranked as nr. 161.

Eivind, Eyvind and Øyvind

Eivind is a male Nordic name, with its origin in the ancient Nordic name *Auja-winduR, which lead to the Norse name "Eivindr".

The firs part of the name is made from "auja" which means "luck" or "gift".The second part comes from winduR and means "winner".

Both "Øyvind" and "Even" are names with the same origin.

Most known meaning: "lucky winner"


Official name day: August 26. (in Norway)


Popularity in Norway (2006):

Norwegian statistics about these names:

Eivind: 8250 men. Ranked as nr. 78

Eyvind: 407 men. Ranked as nr. 434

Øyvind: 14357 men. Ranked as nr. 35

Øivind: 4440 men. Ranked as nr. 126

Øyvin: 207 men. Ranked as nr. 596

Erlend and Erland

Erlend is a male name, which has origin in the Old-Norse name "Erlendr", "Erlandr" or "Erlindr".
All these names comes from the Norse word "ørlendr" which means "noble land", "stranger" or "foreigner".

The name was most likely first used as call-name.

Most known meaning: "noble land", "stranger" or "foreigner".


Official name day: June 14. juni (in Norway)


Popularity in Norway (2006):

Norwegian statistics about these names:

Erlend: 6185 men. Ranked as nr. 102

Erland: 875 men. Ranked as nr. 317

Geir

Geir and Geirr are male names from the Old-Norse "Geirr" or the ancient Nordic name *gaiRaR, which both means "javelin".

Most known meaning: "javelin"

Official name day: May 30. (in Norway)

Popularity in Norway (2006)

Norwegian statistics about the name Geir: 22897 men. Ranked as nr. 13

Gunnar

Gunnar is a male name, with origin in the Old-Norse words "gunnr" which means "fight", "battle" or "war", and the ending "-arr" which comes from the ancient Nordic word "harjaR", which means "warrior" or "army".

Gunnarr is the Old-Norse form of the name, while "Gunnar" was the old-Danish and old-Swedish use of the name.

Most known meaning: "warrior"


Official name day: January 9. januar (in Norway)


Popularity in Norway (2006)

Norwegian statistics about the name

Gunnar: 16311 men. Ranked as nr. 27

Hallgeir and Halgeir

Hallgeir or Halgeir are Old-Norse male names. "Hall" means "stone" or "flat stone", or can also mean "home", while "geir" means "javelin".

Probably it means "one that protects his home with a javelin".

Most known meaning: "house/home" and "javelin".Official name day: August 14. august (in Norway)

Popularity in Norway (2006)

Norwegian statistics about the name Hallgeir: 951 men. Ranked as nr. 308

Helge

Helge is a male name, that comes from the Old-Norse name "Helgi", which again has its origin in the word "heilagr",meaning "holy". In pre-Christian time the maning was "lucky" or "healthy".

Most known meaning: "Holy", "lucky" or "healthy".

Official name day: September 30. (in Norway)

Popularity in Norway (2006)

Norwegian statistics about the name Helge: 13977 men. Ranked as nr. 36

Kjell

Kjell is an old Nordic name, which has its origin in "ketill" that means "kettle", and probably also "helmet".

The Old-Norse name was "Ketill", while the Old-Swedish name was Kætil and the Old-Danish was Ketil.

Most known meaning: "helmet".

Official name day: July 11. (in Norway)

Popularity in Norway (2006)

Norwegian statistics about the name Kjell: 31180 men. Ranked as nr. 5

Odin

Odin is a male name with its origin in the Old-Norse name "Óðinn", made by the word "óðr", "ode" and "furious". The name is identic to the name of the Old-Norse god named Odin.

Most known meaning: The God "Odin" or "furious".

Official name day: April 15. (in Norway)

Popularity in Norway (2006)

Norwegian statistics about the name Odin: 1296 men. Ranked as nr. 283

Sverre

Sverre is a Nordic male name, mainly used as first name, but also rarely as last name.

The name has its origin in the Old-Norse word "sverri" which means "turning around".

The Old-Norse name "Sverrir" was originally used as a call-name or "nick-name" in the meaning of violent or madcap.

Most known meaning: "Madcap" or "violent".

Official name day: March 9. (in Norway)

Popularity in Norway (2006)

Norwegian statistics about the name Sverre: 9940 men. Ranked as nr. 58

Torbjørn and Thorbjørn

Torbjørn (Thorbjørn) is an old Nordic male name, made from the name of "Tor" the Old-Nordic God, and the word "bear".

The name means "the very strong" or "the brave and strong"

Most known meaning: "the very strong" or "the brave and strong".

Official name day: June 5. (in Norway)

Popularity in Norway (2006)

Norwegian statistics about these names:

Torbjørn: 7578 men. Ranked as nr. 85

Thorbjørn: 1699 men. Ranked as nr. 221

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