Geir| Origin |
|---|
| Word/name | Old Norse |
|---|
| Meaning | spear |
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| Region of origin | Norway |
|---|
Geir is a masculine name commonly given inNorway andIceland. It is derived fromOld Norsegeirr "spear", a common name element inGermanic names in general, fromProto-Germanic*gaizaz (whence alsoOld High Germangêr,Old Englishgâr,Gothicgaisu).[1]
The popularity of the given name peaked in Norway during the 1950s to 1980s, with above 2% of newly born boys namedGeir 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.[2]The Old Norse spellingGeirr is also rarely given (89 individuals in Norway as of 2014).[2]Geir is also rarely given in Sweden and Denmark.[3]
WhileGeir 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 beingAsgeir andTorgeir. These are a remnant of a much larger group of names including thegeirr element in Old Norse.[4]
Notable people called Geir include:
- Geir Bjørklund (born 1969), Norwegian researcher, medical/health science writer, and editor
- Geir Digerud (born 1956), Norwegian cyclist
- Geir Gripsrud (born 1948), Norwegian organizational theorist
- Geir Haarde (born 1951), Prime Minister of Iceland (2006–2009)
- Geir Hafredahl (born 1962), Norwegian politician
- Geir Hallgrímsson (1925–1990), Prime Minister of Iceland (1974–1978)
- Geir Hasund (born 1971), Norwegian footballer
- Geir Helgemo (born 1970), Norwegian contract bridge player
- Geir Ivarsøy (1957–2006), Norwegian programmer at Opera Software
- Geir Jenssen (born 1962), Norwegian musician best known under the recording nameBiosphere
- Geir Hansteen Jörgensen (born 1968), Swedish film director
- Geir Isene (born 1966), Norwegian writer
- Geir Karlstad (born 1963), Norwegian speed skater, Olympic gold and bronze medalist
- Geir Lippestad (born 1964), Norwegian lawyer and politician
- Geir Moen (born 1969), Norwegian sprinter
- Geir Suursild (born 1994), Estonian rower
- Geir Sveinsson (born 1964), Icelandic handball player
- Geirr Tveitt (1908–1981), Norwegian composer
- Geir Zahl (born 1975), Norwegian musician
- ^Latingaesum,gaesus, Greekγαῖσον was the term for the lance of theGauls. TheAvestan language hasgaêçu "lance bearer" as a likely cognate. The Celtic word is found e.g. in the name of theGaesatae. Old Irish hasgae "spear". Proto-Germanic*gaizaz would derive fromproto-Indo-European language*ghaisos, although loan from Celtic has also been considered, in which case the PIE form would be*gaisos. TheIndogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch has*g'haisos (with a palatal velar aspirate), discounting the Avestan form in favour of (tentatively) comparingSanskrithḗṣas- "projectile".The formgaois is read in an earlyRunic inscriptions on the so-called Mos spearhead, dated to the 3rd century, found inStenkyrka,Gotland. Sven Birger Fredrik Jansson,The runes of Sweden, Bedminster Press, 1962, pp. iii-iv.
- ^abStatistisk Sentralbyrå, National statistics office of Norway,ssb.no.
- ^Sweden:Det finns 313 män som har förnamnet Geir. Av dessa har 196 namnet Geir som tilltalsnamn.scb.se (as of 2014).Denmark:Mænd med navnet 'Geir'2014: 79, 2015:82.dst.dk.
- ^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).
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