View Message

[Facts] "Ivars" name and surname
Hello, I'm new to the forums, and my name is Lucas Ivars. Although my Ivars is a surname, there is Ivars as a first name. All that I could find here on behinthename was Ivar, as a scandinavian version of Ivor.As a surname, Ivars is really of scandinavian origin (at least "my" Ivars). Mostly found in Sweden and in the swedish-speaking areas of Finland. I've been told it is a spelling variation of Iversen, what would mean something like "ardour", "flame", etc. But I'm not sure.But I don't know what it means, the name or the surname. If anyone could help me. Oh, and forgive my english.
vote up1vote down

Replies

what do you look like?
vote up1vote down
Hi Lucas,The surname Iversen means "son of Iver" and Iver is a variant form of Ivar.And - Ivor is an English form of the name Ivar, not the other way round :-)http://www.nordicnames.de/pojk_i/Ivar.html/Satu
vote up1vote down
Thank you very much, Satu!About Ivars as a name, it seems common in Latvia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivars_Godmanis, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivars_Gailis, etc). I think it's not related to the scandinavian Ivars, since it's a first name. About Ivars as a surname, I'm also not sure about a spelling variation of Iversen, but I think I will never be sure on this issue, so it doesn't matter (if someone does know, please post here, since I don't speak nordic languages, I'm from France).Oh, and about Ivor and Ivar, I knew about that, but since this is an English language site, I thought I should put Ivor in priority. And thanks for the site, it is really interesting and useful!Thanks again. :D
vote up1vote down
If you are from Franceyour family name probably is not from Scandinavian origin, but from Catalan origin.The Catalan surname Ivars (or Ibars, there are two spellings) come from the place names Ivars d'Urgell and Ivars de Noguera, which come from the Basque root ibar, "valley".In France, as family name it has some spelling variants (Yvars, Ivars, Ibars, Ibarz, Ybars). (http://jeantosti.com/noms/y.htm)
vote up1vote down
Hmm, my grandfather always said to me we were descendants from the norsemen who ruled normandy. And then I found this: http://www.houseofnames.com/coatofarms_details.asp?sId=&s=ivarsBut maybe he was just trying to augment our heritage, I don't know (anymore). Probably I should start a genealogic tree...
vote up1vote down