Ragnar ( non, Ragnarr ) is a masculine

Germanic given name Germanic given names are traditionally dithematic; that is, they are formed from two elements, by joining a prefix and a suffix. For example, King Æþelred's name was derived from ', for "noble", and ', for "counsel". However, there are also ...

, composed of the Old Norse elements ''ragin-'' "counsel" and ''hari-'' "army".

Origin and variations

The Proto-Germanic forms of the compounds are "ragina" (counsel) and "harjaz" or "hariz" (army). The

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

form is ''Raginheri, Reginheri'', which gave rise to the modern German form Rainer, the French variant Rainier, the Italian variant

Ranieri Ranieri is an Italian surname and given name originated from the masculine Germanic given name Ragnar (Old Norse ''Ragnarr''). Surname *Teodorico Ranieri (b. unknown, d. 1306), Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church *Massimo Ranieri (born ...

and the Latvian variant Renārs. The

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

form is "Rægenhere" (attested for example in the name of the son of king Rædwald of East-Anglia). The name also existed among the Franks as "Ragnahar" (recorded as

Ragnachar Ragnachar or Ragnarius (died 509) was a Frankish petty king (''regulus'') who ruled from Cambrai. According to Gregory of Tours, Ragnachar "was so unrestrained in his wantonness that he scarcely had mercy for his own near relatives".Gregory, II, 4 ...

in the book "History of the Franks" by Gregory of Tours).

History of usage

The name is on record since the 9th century, both in Scandinavia and in the Frankish empire; the form ''Raginari'' is recorded in a

Vandalic Vandalic was the Germanic language spoken by the Vandals during roughly the 3rd to 6th centuries. It was probably closely related to Gothic, and, as such, is traditionally classified as an East Germanic language. Its attestation is very fragm ...

(5th or 6th century) graffito in

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the cla ...

. The name was variously latinized as ''Raganarius'', ''Reginarius'', ''Ragenarius'', ''Raginerus'', ''Ragnerus'', ''Reginherus''. The Scandinavian patronymic form is Ragnarsson. In the modern period, the name was rarely given before the 1880s. It enjoyed a revival in the late 19th and early 20th century, in connection with national romanticism in Scandinavia. The name is now current as ''Ragnar'' in Iceland, Norway, Sweden and The Faroe Islands and as ''Ragner'' in Denmark. A

hypocoristic A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek: (), from (), 'to call by pet names', sometimes also ''hypocoristic'') or pet name is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as '' Izzy'' for ...

form used in Sweden is ''Ragge''. The name's popularity in Norway peaked during the 1920s and 1930s, during which time it was given to more than 0.7% of newly born boys, but it has declined ever since the late 1930s, falling below the fraction of 0.1% of given names in the 1970s. The Norwegian statistics office reports 4,652 Norwegian men with the given name in 2015. In Iceland, the name remains popular, recorded at rank 21 (given to 0.76% of newly born boys) as of 2014. The Icelandic statistics office recorded 1,286 Icelandic men (0.2%) with the given name as of November 2005.Statistics Iceland

Given name

;Medieval *

Ragnar Lodbrok according to legends, was a Viking hero and a Danish and Swedish king.Gutenberg Projec ...

, 9th century Viking * Ragenar, a 9th-century Frankish bishop *

Reginar, Duke of Lorraine Reginar Longneck or Reginar I ( 850–915), la, Rainerus or ''Ragenerus Longicollus'', was a leading nobleman in the kingdom of Lotharingia, variously described in contemporary sources with the titles of count, margrave, missus dominicus and du ...

(circa 850–915) *

Reginar II, Count of Hainaut Reginar (or Rainier) II (890–932) was Lotharingian magnate who was active from approximately 915 to 932. He was brother of Duke Gilbert of Lotharingia, who died at the Battle of Andernach in 939, and because his son and grandson claimed it, he ...

(890–932) *

Reginar III, Count of Hainaut Reginar III (c. 920 – 973) was Count of Hainaut from approximately 940 until his exile in 958. He was the son of Reginar II, Count of Hainaut. He took part in the rebellion of his uncle Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine. When Gilbert was killed in ...

(circa 920–973) *

Reginar IV, Count of Mons Reginar IV, Count of Mons, in Hainaut, (c. 950–1013) was the son of Reginar III who died in exile in Bohemia in 973. Lambert I of Leuven was his brother. History His father Reginar III was exiled in 958 as a rebel, by Otto I, Holy Roman Emper ...

(circa 950–1013) *

Reginar V, Count of Mons Reginar V (c. 995–1039), was the eldest son of Reginar IV, Count of Mons and Hedwig of France. His maternal grandparents were Hugh Capet of France and Adelaide of Aquitaine. Reginar inherited his father's precarious position as count of Mons, ...

(circa 995–1039) *

Rainier, Margrave of Tuscany Rainier was the Margrave of Tuscany from 1014 until 1027. After the death of the Emperor Henry II, of whom he had been a supporter, he opposed Conrad II. When Conrad descended into Italy to receive the Iron Crown and the Holy Roman Emperorship, he ...

(r. 1014–1027) *

Saint Rainier Rainerius (''c''. 1115/1117 – 1160) is the patron saint of Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province ...

(c. 1117–c. 1160), Pisan saint, also be spelled Raynerius, Rainerius, Rainieri, Ranieri, Raniero, or Regnier. *

Renier of Montferrat Renier or Rénier may refer to: Given name: * Renier Botha (born 1992), South African rugby union player * Renier Coetzee PS, General Officer in the South African Army * François Renier Duminy (1747–1811), French mariner, navigator, cartograph ...

(1162–1183), son-in-law of Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. In Italian, Ranieri del Monferrato. *

Rainier, Marquess of Montferrat Rainier or Renier ( it, Ranieri; c. 1084 – May 1135), son of William IV, Marquis of Montferrat, was the sixth ruler of the state of Montferrat in north-west Italy from about 1100 to his death, and the first such to be identified in contemporary d ...

(c. 1084-1135), Ranieri I del Monferrato or Marchesato del Monferrato, ruler of the state of Montferrat in north-west Italy from about 1100 to his death. *

Rainier I of Monaco, Lord of Cagnes Rainier I of Monaco (1267–1314) was the first sovereign Grimaldi ruler of the area now known as Monaco. He also held the title of ''Lord of Cagnes''. Cagnes was the town where in 1309 he established a stronghold, today known as the Château ...

(1267–1314) *

Rainier II, Lord of Monaco Rainier II, Lord of Monaco (1350–1407), was the monarch of Monaco from June 29, 1352 to August 15, 1357. He was the son of Charles I, Lord of Monaco, and Lucchina Spinola. He ruled jointly with his father Charles I, Lord of Monaco, his father's ...

(14th century) ;Modern :''See .'' *

Ragnar Ekberg Olle Ragnar B. Ekberg (12 August 1886, in Stockholm – 5 April 1966, in Saltsjöbaden, Sweden) was a Swedish track and field athlete who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics and in the 1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olymp ...

(1886–1966), Swedish athlete *

Ragnar Fjørtoft Ragnar Fjørtoft (1 August 1913 – 28 May 1998) was an internationally recognized Norwegian meteorologist. He was part of a Princeton, New Jersey team that in 1950 performed the first successful numerical weather prediction using the ENIAC el ...

(1913–1998), Norwegian meteorologist * Ragnar Fogelmark (1888–1914), Swedish wrestler *

Ragnar Frisch Ragnar Anton Kittil Frisch (3 March 1895 – 31 January 1973) was an influential Norwegian economist known for being one of the major contributors to establishing economics as a quantitative and statistically informed science in the early 20th ce ...

(1895–1973), Norwegian economist *

Ragnar Granit Ragnar Arthur Granit (30 October 1900 – 12 March 1991) was a Finnish-Swedish scientist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1967 along with Haldan Keffer Hartline and George Wald "for their discoveries concerning the ...

(1900–1991), Finnish-Swedish Nobel laureate *

Ragnar Gripe Ragnar Gripe (September 9, 1883 – December 8, 1942) was a Sweden, Swedish sailor who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. He was a crew member of the Swedish boat ''R. S. Y. C.'', which finished fifth in the Sailing at the 1912 Summer Olympi ...

(1883–1942), Swedish sailor *

Ragnar Hult Ragnar Hult (4 March 1857 – 25 September 1899) was a Finnish botanist and plant geographer. He was a forerunner in developing a methodology for vegetation survey. He emphasized the physiognomy of vegetation and paid less attention to its ecology. ...

(1857–1899), Finnish botanist and plant geographer * Einar Ragnar Jónsson, known as Ragnar í Smára (1904–1984), Icelandic art patron, publisher and art collector *

Ragnar Josephson Ragnar Josephson (Stockholm 8 March 1891 - Lund 27 March 1966) was a Swedish art historian and writer. Josephson was professor of art history at Lund University 1929-1957 and founder of the Archive for Decorative Art there. He was director of ...

(1891–1966), Swedish art historian and writer * Ragnar Kjartansson (1976-), Icelandic performance artist * Ragnar Klavan (born 1985), Estonian footballer * Ragnar Musgrave Colvin (1882–1954), British navy officer * Ragnar Olson (1880–1955) was a Swedish horse rider *

Ragnar Östberg Ragnar Östberg (14 July 1866 – 5 February 1945) was a Swedish architect who is best known for designing Stockholm City Hall. Biography Östberg was born in Stockholm, Sweden. His parents were Carl Östberg and Erika Kindahl. Between 1884 a ...

(1866–1945), Swedish architect * Ragnar Rump (1991-), Estonian football and futsal player *

Ragnar Sigurðsson Ragnar Sigurðsson (born 19 June 1986) is an Icelandic former professional footballer who played as centre-back. Beginning his career with Fylkir, he went on to represent IFK Göteborg, Copenhagen, Krasnodar, Fulham, Rubin Kazan, Rostov, and Ru ...

(1986-), Icelandic professional footballer *

Ragnar Sigvald Skancke Ragnar Sigvald Skancke (9 November 1890 – 28 August 1948) was the Norway, Norwegian Minister for Church and Educational Affairs in Vidkun Quisling's Nasjonal Samling Quisling regime, government during World War II. Shot for treason in the legal ...

(1890–1948), Norwegian politician *

Ragnar Sohlman Ragnar Sohlman (February 26, 1870 – July 9, 1948) was a Swedish chemical engineer, manager, civil servant, and creator of the Nobel Foundation. Biography Ragnar Sohlman was born in Stockholm to August Sohlman, a well-known newspaper man ...

(1870–1948), Swedish chemical engineer and creator of the Nobel Foundation

Surname

* Sven Erik Ragnar *

Per Ragnar Per Ragnar, ''Per-Erik Ragnar'' (born 29 May 1941), is a Sweden, Swedish actor, director and author. Biography Ragnar was born in Kalmar, Sweden and is the son of district manager Hans Ragnar and the postal clerk Karin, née Pettersson. Ragnar tr ...

Pseudonym

*Ragnar Redbeard, the pseudonymous author of '' Might Is Right'' (1890)

Fictional characters

Ragnar Lothbrok according to legends, was a Viking hero and a Danish and Swedish king.Gutenberg Proje ...

, main character in the television series ''Vikings'', portrayed by Travis Fimmel and based on Ragnar Lodbrok * Ragnar Danneskjöld, character in Ayn Rand's novel '' Atlas Shrugged'' (1957) *Ragnar McRyan, character from the role-playing game '' Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen'' (1990) * Ragnar Sturlusson, character in the film ''

The Golden Compass ''Northern Lights'' (titled ''The Golden Compass'' in North America and some other countries) is a young-adult fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, published in 1995 by Scholastic UK. Set in a parallel universe, it follows the journey of Lyra Be ...

'' (1995) *Ragnar Blackmane, "Thunderfist", character in the ''Space Wolf'' series by William King (1999) *Ragnar, the main character in the video game ''

Rune Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised ...

'' (2000) *Ragnar Ravnson and his son, Ragnar Ragnarson, characters from '' The Saxon Stories'' historical novel series by

Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English-American author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also written ''The Saxon ...

(2004) *Ragnar Volarus, character in the ''

Red Rising ''Red Rising'' is a 2014 dystopian science fiction novel by American author Pierce Brown, and the first book and eponym of a series. The novel, set in the future on Mars, follows lowborn miner Darrow as he infiltrates the ranks of the elite Gol ...

'' trilogy (2015)