By Joakim Lilljegren
In: Ortnamnssällskapets i Uppsala årsskrift 2021
Summary
Despite its Germanic origin, the highest frequency of use of the male name Aimar is found in the Basque Country and Estonia. This article describes the cultural history of the name and presents different theories of its etymology, the most common being a West Germanic agi- (from age ‘reverence, discipline’ or egg ‘edge’) and –mar (‘famous’). Estonian onomasticians have suggested another origin for the name in the Baltic region: a North Germanic Ivar, transformed through English pronunciation and Latvian spelling to Aivar, later with Aimar as one of many variants.