Given name & surname

Swift

“one who is fast”

Swift is used as a given name and a surname. One Anglo-Saxon interpretation is “one who is fast.”

Meaning & origin

What it means

One Anglo-Saxon interpretation is “one who is fast.”

Where it comes from

An origin associated with this spelling is Anglo-Saxon.

How it developed

From English swift, from Middle English swift, from Old English swift, from Old English swīfan, from Proto-Germanic *swībaną.

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1919. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Swift through the years

Babies since 1880
21
21 boys · 0 girls
Most popular year
2024
6 babies
2025
0
Outside the ranked list
2021–25 vs 2016–20
—
Too few births to compare
0246192019401960198020002025Highest share 19190.0
Swift in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1919–2025, per million boys born. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 6 in 2024. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 23,678 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Swift’s family of names

Swift has a related form in Swifte. Swift has a related form in Swiftea. Swift has a related form in Swiftee.

Walk Swift’s family in the name graph

SwiftSwiftySwyftSwifteaSwifteeSwiftieSwiftiSwifteySwyfteSwifteStanislavaStankaСтанислава

Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Nicknames & forms 9

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

Show 1 moreShow fewer

Across languages 3

Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.

Similar names

If you love Swift, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Anglo-Saxon · Modern

Sihtric

“a king”

11Very rare

>99% boys

Anglo-Saxon · Modern

Grimm

“one who is fierce; dark”

17Very rareRising fast

>99% boys

English · Modern

Ro

“a red-haired man” · “resembling a roe deer”

11Very rareRising fast

76% boys · 24% girls

Anglo-Saxon · Modern

Beowulf

“an intelligent wolf”

13Very rareRising

>99% boys

Anglo-Saxon

Edris

“a prosperous ruler”

25RareRising

>99% boys

Anglo-Saxon · Modern

Isen

“of iron”

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Anglo-Saxon · Modern

Tilian

“one who strives to better himself”

17Very rareEasing

97% boys · 3% girls

Anglo-Saxon · Modern

Ar

“a merciful woman”

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Sibling ideas

Names that share Swift’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Swift

A sister for Swift