Given name
Svein
“a youthful man; a lad”
Svein is a variant of Sven. One interpretation is “a youthful man; a lad.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Svein is a variant of Sven. One interpretation is “a youthful man; a lad.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Svein is a variant of Sven. An origin associated with Sven is Old Norse.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
From Old Norse Sveinn, from Proto-Germanic *swainaz (“relative, kinsman; young man; herder”), from Proto-Indo-European *s(w)e- (“oneself; one's own; separate”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Svein’s family of names
In Norwegian Nynorsk usage, Svein shares a linguistic root with the Swedish form Sven. In Norwegian Bokmål usage, Svein has a related form in Svend. In Norwegian Bokmål usage, Svein has a related form in Sven.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Svein has relatives in 9 languages.
7 related names in 9 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 7
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Svein
- Svein Oddvar MoenNorwegian football refereeborn 1979
- Svein Tuftracing cyclistborn 1977
- Svein ThøgersenNorwegian rowerborn 1946
- Svein RosselandNorwegian astronomer (1894–1985)
- Sweyn GodwinsonAnglo-Saxon Earl1020–1052
- Svein MathisenNorwegian footballer (1952-2011)
- Svein BlindheimNorwegian distance runner (1916-2013)
- Svein Nyhusillustrator and writer of children's booksborn 1962
- Svein Arne HansenNorwegian sports administrator1946–2020
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Svein, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.