Given name & surname
Birger
“helper”
Birger is a masculine given name from Danish, ultimately from Old Norse. It is used in Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian Nynorsk.
Original Old NorseBirGIr
Meaning & origin
What it means
Birger goes back to Old Norse Birgir, meaning “helper.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Old Norse.
How it developed
A proposed derivation links the name to Old Norse biarga, meaning “to help”.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1911. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Birger through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 34
- 34 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1917
- 8 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 1940. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 8 in 1917. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 254 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Birger’s family of names
Birger has an affectionate form in Bigge. Birger is a masculine form of Birgit. In Swedish usage, Birger continues an earlier form in BirGIr.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Birger has relatives in 5 languages. Lines run from its Old Norse roots to each of them.
Old Norsewhere Birger comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 6
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 5
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Birger
- Birger RuudNorwegian skier and ski jumper (1911-1998)
- Birger MelingNorwegian association football playerborn 1994
- Birger SjöbergSwedish poet and songwriter (1885-1929)
- Birger BrosaSwedish politician in the 12th century1200–1202
- Birger EriksenNorwegian Army officer (1875-1958)
- Birger Waseniusspeed skater1911–1940
- Birger RosengrenSwedish footballer (1917–1977)
- Birger MalmstenSwedish actor (1920–1991)
- Birger Sörvikgymnast (1879–1978)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Birger, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Bror
“brother”
>99% boys
Roald
“praise, fame” · “ruler, chieftain”
>99% boys
Frode
“a wise man”
99% boys · 1% girls
Björn
“bear”
>99% boys
Stein
“as solid as a stone” · “stone”
>99% boys
Sigurd
“the protector of victory”
>99% boys
Viggo
“battle”
>99% boys
Sven
“a youthful man; a lad”
>99% boys