Orvar
Meaning and origin
Ultimately borrowed from Old Norse ǫrvar (“arrow's”). In modern time from the Norwegian legendary saga about Orvar Odd, literally, “Arrow's Point”, named after his magical arrows. First attested in 1830.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Orvar (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Orvar has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2013. 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 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | 3 |
| 2005 | 2 |
| 2006 | – |
| 2007 | 2 |
| 2008 | 2 |
| 2009 | – |
| 2010 | – |
| 2011 | 3 |
| 2012 | 3 |
| 2013 | 4 |
| 2014 | – |
| 2015 | – |
| 2016 | 2 |
| 2017 | 4 |
| 2018 | – |
| 2019 | – |
| 2020 | – |
| 2021 | – |
| 2022 | 2 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 292 |
| 2000 | 288 |
| 2001 | 287 |
| 2002 | 283 |
| 2003 | 285 |
| 2004 | 279 |
| 2005 | 273 |
| 2006 | 267 |
| 2007 | 262 |
| 2008 | 261 |
| 2009 | 255 |
| 2010 | 244 |
| 2011 | 247 |
| 2012 | 243 |
| 2013 | 243 |
| 2014 | 243 |
| 2015 | 236 |
| 2016 | 231 |
| 2017 | 228 |
| 2018 | 218 |
| 2019 | 213 |
| 2020 | 211 |
Orvar in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Orvar.Hi! My name is Orvar.
- Orvar bor i Umeå och jobbar som snickare.Orvar lives in Umeå and works as a carpenter.
- Vet du om Orvar kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Orvar is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Orvars mamma är lärare.Orvar's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Orvars mamma is Orvar's mum.
More names
Questions about Orvar
How do you pronounce Orvar in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Orvar in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Orvar mean?
Ultimately borrowed from Old Norse ǫrvar (“arrow's”). In modern time from the Norwegian legendary saga about Orvar Odd, literally, “Arrow's Point”, named after his magical arrows. First attested in 1830.
How popular is Orvar in Sweden?
2 babies were named Orvar in 2022. In 2020, 211 people in Sweden had Orvar as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 2013 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.