Geir is a masculine name commonly given in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. It is derived from

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

''geirr'' "spear", a common name element in

Germanic 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 al ...

s in general, from

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic branc ...

'' *gaizaz'' (whence also

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 ...

''gêr'',

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 settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''gâr'',

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

''gaisu''). The popularity of the given name peaked in Norway during the 1950s to 1980s, with above 2% of newly born boys named ''Geir'' during the late 1960s to 1970s. As of 2014, the National statistics office of Norway recorded 22,380 men with the given name, or 0.9% of total male population. Statistisk Sentralbyrå, National statistics office of Norway
ssb.no
The Old Norse spelling ''Geirr'' is also rarely given (89 individuals in Norway as of 2014). ''Geir'' is also rarely given in Sweden and Denmark. While ''Geir'' was practically unused as a given name prior to the 1930s (and since the 2000s), ''-geir'' is the second element in a number of given names inherited from Old Norse, the most popularly given being '' Asgeir'' and '' Torgeir''. These are a remnant of a much larger group of names including the ''geirr'' element in Old Norse.nordicnames.de
citing Kristoffer Kruken, Ola Stemshaug, ''Norsk Personnamnleksikon'' (1995), Per Vikstrand, ''Förkristna sakrala personnamn i Skandinavien'', Studia anthroponymica Scandinavica 27 (2009), 5–31, Lena Peterson, ''Nordiskt runnamnslexikon'' (2002).

Notable people

Notable people called Geir include: * Geir Bjørklund (b. 1969), Norwegian researcher, medical/health science writer, and editor *

Geir Digerud Geir Digerud (born 19 May 1956) is a Norwegian cyclist. He was born in Oslo, and is the son of Per Digerud. He competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, where he placed 55th in the road race and eighth in team time trial with the Norwe ...

(b. 1956), Norwegian cyclist *

Geir Gripsrud Geir Gripsrud (born 1946) is a Norwegian organizational theorist and Professor of Marketing at BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo, known for his work on international marketing, market entry strategy and distribution channels. Life and work ...

(b. 1948), Norwegian organizational theorist *

Geir Haarde Geir Hilmar Haarde (; born 8 April 1951) is an Icelandic politician, who served as prime minister of Iceland from 15 June 2006 to 1 February 2009 and as president of the Nordic Council in 1995. Geir was chairman of the Icelandic Independence Pa ...

(b. 1951), Prime Minister of Iceland 2006–2009 *

Geir Hallgrímsson Geir Hallgrímsson (16 December 1925 – 1 September 1990) was the prime minister of Iceland for the Independence Party from 28 August 1974 to 1 September 1978. Before that he had been mayor of Reykjavík and a member of the Icelandic parliament ...

(1925–1990),

Prime Minister of Iceland The prime minister of Iceland ( is, Forsætisráðherra Íslands) is Iceland's head of government. The prime minister is appointed formally by the president and exercises executive authority along with the cabinet subject to parliamentary suppor ...

1974–1978) *

Geir Hasund Geir Hasund (born 3 July 1971) is a former Norwegian football player that played as an offensive midfielder or forward at Hødd, Viking and Brann. He was capped for Norway at U21-level. Career After playing for Hødd, like his father Kjetil ...

(b. 1971), Norwegian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player *

Geir Helgemo Geir Helgemo (born 14 February 1970) is a professional bridge player who was born in Norway but is now a citizen of Monaco. Through 2012 he had won three world championships in competition. As of August 2018 he ranked first among Open World Gra ...

(b. 1970), Norwegian

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

player *

Geir Ivarsøy Geir Ivarsøy (June 27, 1957 – March 9, 2006) was the lead programmer at Opera Software. He and Jon von Tetzchner were part of a research group at the Norwegian state phone company (now known as Telenor) where they developed browsing software c ...

(1957–2006), Norwegian programmer at

Opera Software Opera is a Norwegian multinational technology company and subsidiary of Kunlun that specializes in web browser development, fintech, as well as services such as Opera News and YoYo Games. The company's total user base, including users of its d ...

Geir Jenssen Geir Jenssen (born 30 May 1962)Thompson, Dave (2000) ''Alternative Rock'', Miller Freeman, , p.197-198 is a Norwegian electronic musician and composer who records as Biosphere. A resident of Tromsø within the Arctic Circle, Jenssen is well know ...

(b. 1962), Norwegian musician best known under the recording name ''Biosphere'' *

Geir Hansteen Jörgensen Geir Hansteen Jörgensen (born 18 February 1968) is a Swedish television, film and commercials director. His most famous works are probably the film and TV mini-series '' The New Country'' and ''The Soloists''. Both have received many awards inter ...

(b. 1968),

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

film director *

Geir Karlstad Geir Karlstad (born 7 July 1963) is a Norwegian former speed skater and national team speed skating coach. Biography Although best at the longest distances (the 5,000 m and the 10,000 m), Geir Karlstad became Junior World Allround Champ ...

(b. 1963), Norwegian speed skater, Olympic gold and bronze medalist *

Geir Lippestad Geir Lippestad (born 7 June 1964) is a Norwegian lawyer, politician and social activist. He is known for his involvement in several high-profile legal cases, and for starting the political party ''Sentrum'' in 2020. As a criminal appellate law ...

(b. 1964), Norwegian lawyer and politician * Geir Moen (b. 1969), Norwegian sprinter *

Geir Suursild Geir Suursild (born 13 October 1994) is an Estonian rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oar ...

(born 1994), Estonian rower *

Geirr Tveitt Geirr Tveitt (born Nils Tveit; 19 October 1908 – 1 February 1981) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. Tveitt was a central figure of the national movement in Norwegian cultural life during the 1930s. Life Early years Tveitt was born in Be ...

(1908–1981), Norwegian composer *

Geir Zahl Geir Zahl (born 19 May 1975) is a Norwegian musician. He is known for playing guitar in the Norwegian rock group Kaizers Orchestra. The band was founded by Geir Zahl and Janove Ottesen who had both played together in some other bands, namely Bl ...

(b. 1975), Norwegian musician

References

{{given name Norwegian masculine given names Scandinavian masculine given names