Geir
Geir is a masculine name commonly given in Norway and Iceland. It is derived from Old Norse geirr "spear", a common name element in Germanic names in general, from Proto-Germanic *gaizaz.
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.
The Old Norse spelling Geirr is also rarely given.
Geir is also rarely given in Sweden and Denmark.
While Geir was practically unused as a given name prior to the 1930s, -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.
Notable people called Geir include:
- Geir Bjørklund, Norwegian researcher, medical/health science writer, and editor
- Geir Digerud, Norwegian cyclist
- Geir Gripsrud, Norwegian organizational theorist
- Geir Haarde, Prime Minister of Iceland
- Geir Hafredahl, Norwegian politician
- Geir Hallgrímsson, Prime Minister of Iceland
- Geir Hansteen Jörgensen, Swedish film director
- Geir Hasund, Norwegian footballer
- Geir Helgemo, Norwegian contract bridge player
- Geir Isene, Norwegian writer
- Geir Ivarsøy, Norwegian programmer at Opera Software
- Geir Jenssen, Norwegian musician best known under the recording name Biosphere
- Geir Karlstad, Norwegian speed skater, Olympic gold and bronze medalist
- Geir Lippestad, Norwegian lawyer and politician
- Geir Selvik Malthe-Sørenssen, Norwegian con artist
- Geir Moen, Norwegian sprinter
- Geir Suursild, Estonian rower
- Geir Sveinsson, Icelandic handball player
- Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer
- Geir Zahl, Norwegian musician