Birger

Birger is a Scandinavian name from Old Norse, bjarga, meaning "to help, to save, to protect". It is widely used in Norway as Birger but also as Børge. The Swedish variant of Birger would soon evolve into Börje, however, the prior form would remain common, and was not confused with its successor. The Icelandic form is Birgir. Birger is primarily a masculine given name, but can also be found as a surname.

Middle Ages

 * Birger, King of Sweden (1280–1321)
 * Birger Brosa (died 1202), Swedish jarl
 * Birger Gregersson (c. 1327 – 1383), Archbishop of Uppsala
 * Birger Jarl (1210–1266), Swedish statesman
 * Birger Persson (died 1327), Swedish magnate, knight, privy councillor and Uppland's first lawspeaker

Modern world

 * Birger Asplund (1929–2023), Swedish hammer thrower
 * Birger Carlstedt (1907–1975), Finnish artist
 * Birger Cederin (1895–1942), Swedish fencer
 * Birger Dahlerus (1891–1957), Swedish businessman and amateur diplomat
 * Birger Ekeberg (1880–1968), Swedish jurist
 * Birger Eriksen (1875–1958), Norwegian colonel who repelled the initial German World War II invasion force
 * Birger Hedqvist (1894–1964), Swedish lieutenant general
 * Birger Ljungberg (1884–1967), Norwegian military officer, politician and Minister of Defence from 1939 to 1942
 * Birger Ljungström (1872–1948), Swedish engineer, technical designer, industrialist and inventor
 * Birger Malmsten (1920–1991), Swedish actor
 * Birger Sandzén (1871–1954), Swedish-American painter
 * Birger Sjöberg (1885–1929), Swedish poet and songwriter

Surname

 * Charles Birger (1881–1928), American bootlegger
 * Hugo Birger (1854–1887), Swedish painter
 * Malene Birger (born 1962), Danish fashion designer
 * Pablo Birger (1924–1966), Argentine racing driver
 * Trudi Birger (1927–2002), German Holocaust survivor and writer

Birgir
Birgir is used in Iceland and the Faroes. In 2016, 1045 people had Birgir as a first given name in Iceland, and 285 had it as a second name.


 * Birgir Þórarinsson (born 1965), Icelandic politician
 * Birgir Ísleifur Gunnarsson (1936–2019), Icelandic politician