Given name
Svend
“a youthful man; a lad”
Svend is a variant of Sven. One interpretation is “a youthful man; a lad.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Svend is a variant of Sven. One interpretation is “a youthful man; a lad.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Svend is a variant of Sven. An origin associated with Sven is Old Norse.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
In Norwegian Bokmål usage, Svend developed from Sveinn.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1921. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Svend through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 37
- 37 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1934
- 6 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 1968. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 184 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.
Svend’s family of names
In Danish usage, Svend shares a linguistic root with the Swedish form Sven. In Norwegian Bokmål usage, Svend has a related form in Svein. Svend has a related form in Sven.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Svend has relatives in 11 languages.
9 related names in 11 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 8
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Svend
- Svend AsmussenDanish jazz violinist (1916-2017)
- Svend GrundtvigFolklorist, author (1824–1883)
- Lauge KochDanish geologist and Arctic explorer (1892–1964)
- Svend FoynNorwegian whaler (1809–1894)
- Svend Ove PedersenDanish rower1920–2009
- Svend BrodersenGerman association football playerborn 1997
- Svend WadDanish boxer (1928–2004)
- Svend OlsenDanish weightlifter (1908-1980)
- Sweyn the CrusaderDanish crusader1050–1097
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Svend, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Sherwin
“a bright friend”
>99% boys
Arland
“a solemn, binding promise”
>99% boys
Ned
“a wealthy protector”
>99% boys
Radford
“from the red ford”
>99% boys
Rives
“one who lives by the riverbank”
>99% boys
Rayford
“from the roe deer crossing”
>99% boys
Leonhard
“having the strength of a lion” · “one who is brave”
>99% boys
Remo
“woman from the town of Rheims” · “man from the town of Rheims”
>99% boys