Given name & surname
Vidar
“wide”·“army”
Vidar is a masculine given name from Old Norse. It is used in Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian Nynorsk.
Original Old NorseVíðarr
Meaning & origin
What it means
Vidar is built from elements meaning “wide” and “army”.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
In Danish usage, Vidar developed from Víðarr.
The story
In mythological stories, Vidar is associated with a son of Odin.
Vidar through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 11
- 11 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2024
- 6 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 6 in 2024. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Vidar’s family of names
In Danish usage, Vidar developed from the Old Norse form Víðarr. Vidar has a related form in Vidarr. In Norwegian Nynorsk usage, Vidar continues an earlier form in Víðarr.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Vidar
- Vidar RisethNorwegian association football playerborn 1972
- Vidar HelgesenChief of Staff to Prime Minister Erna Solbergborn 1968
- Vidar SandbeckNorwegian author and musician (1918–2005)
- Vidar DavidsenNorwegian footballerborn 1958
- Vidar KleppeNorwegian politicianborn 1963
- Vidar SundstølNorwegian writerborn 1963
- Vidar NisjaNorwegian association football playerborn 1986
- Vidar BuskNorwegian guitarist, vocalist, composer and record producer within genres blues and soulborn 1970
- Vidar BjørnstadNorwegian politicianborn 1955
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Vidar, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Tyr
Tyr is a masculine given name from Old Norse, ultimately from Proto-Germanic. It is used in Swedish.
>99% boys
Loki
Loki is a masculine given name from Old Norse. It is used in English and Icelandic.
95% boys · 5% girls
Ymir
76% boys · 24% girls
Sutherland
“from the southern island”
>99% boys
Durin
>99% boys
Fenris
>99% boys
Radyn
>99% boys
Hakan
“one who is noble” · “a fiery man”
>99% boys