Svein

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Sven in NL Netherlands, HR Croatia, LV Latvia and 3 more and Свен in RU Russia, UA Ukraine, TR Türkiye.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 9 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Svein is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French given name613 records spelled Svein3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Norway, Spain, United States

  Also written Sveïn

• Hindi surname180 records spelled Svein125 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, Germany, Netherlands, United States

  Languages: Hindi, German, Vietnamese

  Also written Swain, Sven, Subai

43 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Svein is also recorded in one other lexicon, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In non, accusative of Sveinn

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

NO SSB — Navn (1880–present) — 77 years between 1945–2023. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Sweyn Godwinsonb. 1020TRnot in their usual nameAnglo-Saxon Earl
• Svein Rosselandb. 1894NONorwegian astronomer (1894–1985)
• Svein Erik Brodalb. 1939NONorwegian actor, director and writer
• Svein Arne Hansenb. 1946NONorwegian sports administrator
• Svein Krøvelb. 1946NONorwegian cinematographer (1946–2011)
• Svein Mathisenb. 1952NONorwegian footballer (1952-2011)
• Svein Tindbergb. 1953NONorwegian actor (born 1953)
• Svein Stølenb. 1960NONorwegian chemist
• Svein Gjerdåkerb. 1963NONorwegian newspaper editor
• Svein Tuftb. 1977CAracing cyclist

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 220 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Svein?

We estimate roughly 139 thousand people bear Svein (counting its spellings and scripts) across 14 countries in our records.

In which country does Svein have the most bearers?

We estimate about 95 thousand people bear Svein in Sweden, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled svein.

Where is Svein most common?

Svein is densest in Sweden, where the national register counts about 1 in 107 people carrying it.

How common is Svein compared with other names?

In Norway, Svein is the 34th most common given name of 38,312 given names recorded there.

Is Svein a male or female name?

Svein is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Svein mean?

Recorded meaning: a male given name from Old Norse, feminine equivalent Sveina