Boy name origins & meanings
- Middle English : Knight's attendant
How Popular Is The Name Swain
Family name origins & meanings
- Northern English : occupational name for a servant or attendant, from the Middle English word swein ‘servant’ or Old Norse sveinn ‘boy’, ‘servant’. In Old Norse this word is also found as a personal name in the form Sveinn; so in some cases the origin may be patronymic.
- Scottish and Irish : reduced form of McSwain.