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 were not be confused with its successor. The Icelandic form is Birgir. Birger is primarily a masculine given name, but can also be found as a surname. Birger People with the name Birger include: Given name Birger, King of Sweden 1280–1321), Swedish king 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 Hedqvist (1894–1964), Swedish lieutenant general Birger Jarl (1210–1266), Swedish statesman 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, Danish fashion designer Pablo Birger (1924–1966), Argentinian 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 Ísleifur Gunnarsson (1936–2019), Icelandic politician See also Burger (disambiguation) Burgers (surname) Berger Burgher (disambiguation) Bürger Børge Börje References Given names Scandinavian masculine given names Swedish masculine given names