Swifte Surname

1,343,156th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 166 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
Australia
Highest density in:
Australia

Swifte Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'the swift.' One of a class of names implying speed, comprehending Purchas, Shearwind, Lightfoot, Golightly, Bullet, &c, given to pursuivants and couriers. Purchas was the favourite.

Matilda Swyft, Cambridgeshire, 1273.

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Swifte Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Australia1521:177,60318,018
Germany61:13,417,576340,600
Canada51:7,369,118289,406
England11:55,718,059489,080
Scotland11:5,353,81763,002
United States11:362,458,9331,988,048
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland621:71,4495,226
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England101:2,437,53768,340
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States181:2,789,927129,797

Swifte Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'the swift.' One of a class of names implying speed, comprehending Purchas, Shearwind, Lightfoot, Golightly, Bullet, &c, given to pursuivants and couriers. Purchas was the favourite.

Matilda Swyft, Cambridgeshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Roger Swyft, Buckinghamshire, ibid.

Arnulph Swyft, Norfolk, ibid.

Ralph Swyft, courier to Edward III: Issues of the Exchequer, edited by Frederick Devon.

Henricus Swyft, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

1754. Married — Godfrey Swift and Christiana Williams: St. George, Hanover Square.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

A family of this name were burgesses of Edinburgh, and the chartulary of St. Giles contains frequent notices of them in the time of James II (Stodart, II, p. 122). John Swyft was burgess of Edinburgh in 1427 (RMS., II, 92), Swift was the name of a tenth-century landowner in England (Ewen, p, 335).

The Surnames of Scotland (1946) by George Fraser Black (1866-1948)

From speed of foot. Swift and Swyft, as also Celer, are found in H.R.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

Local. A name given for swiftness in moving. It may be local, from Swift, a river of England.

An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names (1857) by William Arthur

The Swifts of this shire are best represented in the Chesterfield district. William Swyft lived in Derby town 600 years ago (H. R.). The Rev. J. Swift, minister of Baslow, died in 1766 (G.).

Homes of Family Names in Great Britain (1890) by Henry Brougham Guppy

The name of Swift is also established in Derbyshire, the West Riding, and Notts. In the 13th century there were Swifts and Swyfts in Derbyshire, Bucks, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk (H. R.).

Homes of Family Names in Great Britain (1890) by Henry Brougham Guppy

Swifte Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Swifte Come From? nationality or country of origin

Swifte is found most in Australia. It can also be found in the variant forms:. For other potential spellings of Swifte click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Swifte? popularity and diffusion

The last name is the 1,343,156th most frequently used family name globally, held by around 1 in 43,900,879 people. The surname Swifte occurs predominantly in Oceania, where 92 percent of Swifte live; 92 percent live in Australasia and 92 percent live in Australia and New Zealand.

The surname Swifte is most prevalent in Australia, where it is held by 152 people, or 1 in 177,603. In Australia it is mostly concentrated in: New South Wales, where 35 percent reside, Queensland, where 30 percent reside and Victoria, where 16 percent reside. Not including Australia Swifte is found in 5 countries. It also occurs in Germany, where 4 percent reside and Canada, where 3 percent reside.

Swifte Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The prevalency of Swifte has changed over time. In England the share of the population with the surname declined 90 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in The United States it declined 94 percent between 1880 and 2014.

Swifte Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those bearing the last name is primarily Catholic (82%) in Ireland.

Swifte earn somewhat more than the average income. In Canada they earn 5.1% more than the national average, earning $52,216 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Swiftee922/
Swiftie921/
Swift9162,158/
Swifty8316/
Swifft834/
Swiftt834/
Swifth833/
Swwift832/
Switft831/
Shwift830/
Swiftys771/
Swiffts770/
Schwift770/
Svift73156/
Sweft733/
Suift732/
Swiwt731/
Swyft730/
Shweifet712/
Sweibt6716/
Zwipft674/
Sweeft671/
Sweftt671/
Suifet671/
Suiffet62390/
Schwifcz5711/
Sueft552/
Suefta503/
Sweebt501/

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Swifte
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis