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Dictionary of Medieval Names
from European Sources

Sven m. Old Norse sveinn 'boy, servant', Old English swān 'herdsman, swineherd, peasant'.

The name of an 11th C king of Denmark, England, and Sweden, two 11th C kings of Norway, an 11th C king of Denmark, and a 12th C king of Denmark.

The English forms Swan and Swayne are witnessed in 1379 in the relational bynames Swansoñ (WRYPT1 p. 162) and Swaynessoñ (WRYPT1 p. 300).

Denmark
Danish
1581 Suend KD-1 no. 362, Suennd ibid. no. 362, Suenndt ibid. no. 362
England
Latin
c1145x1159 Swani (gen) EYC-3 1666, Swano (dat) ibid. 1666; 1185x1186 Suein (dat) PR-XXXVI p. 11, Sueino (abl) ibid. p. 5; 1189 Suanus (nom) GASurv p. 173, Suein (nom) ibid. p. 159, Sueinus (nom) ibid. p. 161; 1222 Sweino (nom) StPaulDom p. 81, Sweno (nom) ibid. p. 61, sueni (gen) ibid. p. 20; 1279–80 Swayn (gen) WaHR-SK p. 56
Ireland
Latin
fin12thC Swein (nom) MunDocIr III, p. 11
Scotland
Latin
c1100 Swein (abl) ESC XX
Sweden
Latin
1350 Suenoni (dat) SDHK no. 6060, Suens (gen) ibid. no. 6059, Swenoni (dat) ibid. no. 6060; 1383 Sweno (nom) SRA-vol2 no. 1901; 1411 Suenonis (gen) SDHK no. 17654, Sweno (nom) ibid. no. 17654
Old Swedish
1359 Swen (nom) SDHK no. 7548; 1377 Swen (nom) ibid. no. 11085; 1379 Swens (gen) ibid. no. 11542; 1383 Sweens (gen) SRA-vol2 no. 1940, Swen (nom) ibid. no. 1900; 1403 Swen (nom) SDHK no. 16167; 1408 Swens (gen) ibid. no. 17116; 1409 Swen (nom) ibid. no. 17337, Swens (gen) ibid. no. 17269; 1410 Swen (nom) ibid. no. 17485; 1411 Swen (nom) ibid. no. 17663, Swens (gen) ibid. no. 17627; 1414 Swen (nom) ibid. no. 18236; 1420 Svens (gen) ibid. no. 19436; 1518 Suen (nom) HGS p. 154; 1519 Suen (nom) ibid. p. 154; 1520 Suen (nom) ibid. p. 154
Early Modern Swedish
1533 Swen (nom) HGS p. 156; 1535 Swen (nom) ibid. p. 156, Swens (gen) ibid. p. 156; 1541 Swen (nom) ibid. p. 159
Cite as: S.L. Uckelman. "Sven". In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2021, no. 1. http://dmnes.org/2021/1/name/Sven.