Given name · also Old Norse
Sven
“a youthful man; a lad”
Sven is used as a given name. One interpretation is “a youthful man; a lad.”
Original Old NorseSveinn
Meaning & origin
What it means
One interpretation is “a youthful man; a lad.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Old Norse.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1911. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Sven through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 2,517
- 2,517 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2015
- 58 babies
- 2025
- 31
- #3,645 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- 0%
- Steady
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 31 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 3,645 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 0.4% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 58 in 2015. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 2,970 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Sven’s family of names
In German usage, Sven has a feminine form in SVENJA. In Swedish usage, Sven has a conventional equivalent in the German form Swen. In German usage, Sven has a related form in Swen.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Sven has relatives in 15 languages. Lines run from its Old Norse roots to each of them.
Old Norsewhere Sven comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 9
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Svendvariant · Norwegian Bokmål, Danish
- Swenvariant · German
- Swainvariant
- Svennvariant · Norwegian Bokmål
- Sveinvariant · Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk
- Schwenvariant · German
- Swensonvariant
- Swensenvariant
Show 1 moreShow fewer
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 14
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Svenoequivalent
- ᛋᚢᛅᛁᚾequivalent
- Svensen“son of” surname · Norwegian Bokmål
- Swegncognate · Old English
- Sveinurcognate · Faroese
- Veiniborrowing · Finnish
- Svenjafeminine form · German
- Soinicognate · Finnish, Swedish
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People named Sven
- Olof PalmeSwedish Prime Minister (1969–76, 1982–86)1927–1986
- Sven HedinSwedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, travel writer and illustrator (1865-1952)
- Sven BenderGerman footballerborn 1989
- Sven UlreichGerman association football player (born 1988)
- Sven KramerDutch speed skaterborn 1986
- Sven NykvistSwedish cinematographer and film director (1922-2006)
- Sven BotmanDutch association football playerborn 2000
- Sven FischerGerman biathleteborn 1971
- Sven HannawaldGerman former ski jumper and footballerborn 1974
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Sven, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Viggo
“battle”
>99% boys
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“as solid as a stone” · “stone”
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Torsten
“from Thor's town; Thor's stone”
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Bror
“brother”
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“helper”
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