The
parish of
Hordnæs og Iveland was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see
formannskapsdistrikt law). According to the 1835 census, the municipality had a population of 1,848. On 1 January 1886, Hornnes og Iveland was divided to create two separate municipalities:
Hornnes (population: 1,113) and
Iveland (population: 1,103). The municipality of Iveland still exists today, while Hornnes currently a part of the municipality of
Evje og Hornnes.
Name The two neighboring parishes of
Hornnes and
Iveland were put together as a single municipality after the
formannskapsdistrikt law went into effect on 1 January 1838. The resulting municipality was given the
compound name Hornnes og Iveland, literally meaning "Hornnes and Iveland". The historic
parish of Hornnes is named after the old
Hornnes farm () since the first
Hornnes Church was built there. The first element is which means "
horn". The last element is which means "
headland". So the meaning of Hornnes is "the headland shaped like a horn". This is likely referring to the two horn-shaped peninsulas that jut out into the river
Otra at the entrance to the lake Breidflå. The historic parish of Iveland is named after the old
Iveland farm () since the first
Iveland Church was built there. This old farm is now part of the village of
Birketveit. The first element is the
genitive case of the local river name which now called the
Frøysåna. The river name is probably derived from the word which means "yew" (
Taxus baccata). The last element is which means "land" or "district". ==Government==