Alvar
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Old Norse. Old Norse Alfarr, from alfr (“elf”) + herr (“army”). * Revived in the 19th century, partly because it was mistaken for a translation of German Ernst from Swedish allvar (“seriousness”).
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Alvar (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Alvar has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2020. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | 10 |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | 11 |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | 24 |
| 2005 | 40 |
| 2006 | 62 |
| 2007 | 65 |
| 2008 | 74 |
| 2009 | 70 |
| 2010 | 96 |
| 2011 | 96 |
| 2012 | 93 |
| 2013 | 110 |
| 2014 | 103 |
| 2015 | 105 |
| 2016 | 122 |
| 2017 | 116 |
| 2018 | 118 |
| 2019 | 127 |
| 2020 | 148 |
| 2021 | 143 |
| 2022 | 118 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 1,377 |
| 2000 | 1,327 |
| 2001 | 1,275 |
| 2002 | 1,233 |
| 2003 | 1,185 |
| 2004 | 1,146 |
| 2005 | 1,138 |
| 2006 | 1,159 |
| 2007 | 1,182 |
| 2008 | 1,219 |
| 2009 | 1,237 |
| 2010 | 1,265 |
| 2011 | 1,310 |
| 2012 | 1,357 |
| 2013 | 1,425 |
| 2014 | 1,492 |
| 2015 | 1,554 |
| 2016 | 1,646 |
| 2017 | 1,715 |
| 2018 | 1,802 |
| 2019 | 1,898 |
| 2020 | 2,014 |
Alvar in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Alvar.Hi! My name is Alvar.
- Alvar bor i Umeå och jobbar som snickare.Alvar lives in Umeå and works as a carpenter.
- Jag ska fika med Alvar i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Alvar this afternoon.
- Alvars mamma är lärare.Alvar's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Alvars mamma is Alvar's mum.
More names
Questions about Alvar
How do you pronounce Alvar in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Alvar from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Alvar mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Old Norse. Old Norse Alfarr, from alfr (“elf”) + herr (“army”). * Revived in the 19th century, partly because it was mistaken for a translation of German Ernst from Swedish allvar (“seriousness”).
How popular is Alvar in Sweden?
118 babies were named Alvar in 2022. In 2020, 2,014 people in Sweden had Alvar as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2020 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.