Swain
An old nickname and status name for a youth, servant, or herdsman, ultimately from Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon words for a young man or attendant.
The #1,412 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 12,273 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname comes from a word meaning a boy, young man, attendant, or herdsman. In Old English, a related form meant a pastoral servant, while Old Norse sveinn meant a youth, servant, or young man. Middle English spellings such as swain, swayn, and swein continued this sense and also helped create related surnames and compounds.
History
The name appears early in medieval records and was especially common in English areas with strong Scandinavian influence. It is also connected with other surnames and occupational names such as Boatswain, where the second element is the same old word for an attendant or sailor’s helper. In some cases it may have been used first as a nickname, in others as a status or occupation term.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The word behind Swain also survives in the nautical title boatswain, originally meaning the boat's attendant or boat-hand.
From the historical record
“SWAILES, V. Swales. SWAIN "I (Scand. and Eng.) orig. Swine- SWAINE J herd; later Herdsman, Servant, or Man generally [M.E. swayn(e, sweynie, swein, etc. ; O.N. sueinn = U.E. swdn] John le Swein,— Hund. Rolls. Sueinn (Swed. Sven, Dan.-Norw. Suend, a youth, servant), like the almost equally”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)