Ivor

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 6 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Ivor is also recorded as another name, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Estonian given name157 records spelled Ivor35 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Estonia, Russia, Latvia, Finland

  Languages: Estonian, Russian, Finnish

  Also written Aivar, Айвар, Ajvar, Аивар, Ayvar

52 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Ivor is also recorded in 4 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Irish, Probably from Norse Ivarr; also linked to an Irish saint and used to anglicise Eibhear.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In English, A male given name from Old Norse.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• 1 English: of Scandinavian origin, from an Old Norse personal name composed of the elements ýr yew, bow + herr army, warrior. 2 Scottish: Anglicized form of the ancient Gaelic name Éibhear . Cognates (of 1): Scandinavian: Ivar; Iver (Danish). Scottish Gaelic: Ìomhar, Ìmhear . Top

  as a word

• In Russian, Ivor Miroslavich', governor. 1180.

  as a word·A Dictionary of Period Russian Names (Wickenden / Goldschmidt 1996)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 93 years between 1896–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Ivor Novellob. 1893GBWelsh composer and actor (1893–1951)
• I. A. Richardsb. 1893GBnot in their usual nameEnglish literary critic and rhetorician (1893–1979)
• Ivor Montagub. 1904GBBritish film maker (1904–1984)
• Ivor Allchurchb. 1929GBWelsh footballer (1929-1997)
• Ronald Fergusonb. 1931GBnot in their usual nameBritish Army officer (1931–2003)
• Joseph Silkb. 1942GBnot in their usual nameBritish-American astronomer
• Iva Daviesb. 1955AUnot in their usual nameAustralian electronic musician and rock singer
• Ivor Boltonb. 1958GBBritish musician
• George Baldockb. 1993GBnot in their usual nameGreek-English footballer (1993-2024)
• Ivor Pandurb. 2000HRCroatian association football player

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 369 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Ivor?

We estimate roughly 2.9 thousand people bear Ivor (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Ivor have the most bearers?

Ivor is most frequently recorded in the United Kingdom, where it is most often spelled ivor.

Where is Ivor most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Ivor is densest in Guyana — about 1 in 2.0 thousand people — even though United Kingdom holds more of our records for it.

How common is Ivor compared with other names?

In Guyana, Ivor is the 97th most common given name of 22,162 given names recorded there.

Is Ivor a male or female name?

Ivor is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Ivor mean?

Recorded meaning: ON Ivarr, ODa Iwar, OSw Ivar ‘yew-army’; first attested Juuar 1066 DB (Sa).