Last name SWAIN: origin and meaning

Swain : 1: English: from the Middle English personal name Swain Swein (Old Norse Sveinn Sven from sveinn ‘lad’).2: English: occupational name from Middle English swein ‘servant attendant; boy young man’ (Old Norse sveinn). The word could also denote a swineherd or a peasant in general. The name was thoroughly confused with Swan 1.3: Irish: when not the English name possibly an Anglicized form of Mac Suibhne; see McSwain.

Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England

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