Swords Surname
Approximately 5,042 people bear this surname
Swords Surname Definition:
This surname is a corrupt form of the old personal name Siward, which see, famous in early Scottish history from its having been borne by the victor over Macbeth at the battle of Dunsinnan in 1054. John Swerd, Scotsman, who had a safe conduct into England in 1398, may be the John Swerde, master of a ship of Archambaud (Archibald), earl of Douglas, in 1405 (Bain, IV, 504,697).
Read More About This SurnameSwords Surname Distribution Map
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 3,412 | 1:106,231 | 11,657 |
| Ireland | 612 | 1:7,694 | 1,083 |
| England | 588 | 1:94,759 | 10,119 |
| Australia | 184 | 1:146,716 | 15,637 |
| Canada | 91 | 1:404,897 | 35,698 |
| New Zealand | 42 | 1:107,817 | 14,061 |
| Scotland | 31 | 1:172,704 | 9,690 |
| Wales | 14 | 1:221,038 | 13,576 |
| Qatar | 12 | 1:196,500 | 26,891 |
| Northern Ireland | 8 | 1:230,630 | 10,839 |
| Sweden | 6 | 1:1,641,126 | 116,183 |
| Iraq | 4 | 1:8,755,414 | 23,373 |
| Mexico | 4 | 1:31,031,551 | 63,627 |
| United Arab Emirates | 4 | 1:2,290,568 | 60,372 |
| Israel | 3 | 1:2,852,545 | 113,505 |
| Thailand | 3 | 1:23,546,115 | 908,588 |
| Switzerland | 3 | 1:2,737,638 | 105,941 |
| Belgium | 2 | 1:5,748,322 | 130,559 |
| Brazil | 2 | 1:107,037,166 | 1,031,150 |
| China | 2 | 1:683,660,783 | 30,601 |
| South Africa | 1 | 1:54,177,704 | 343,732 |
| Afghanistan | 1 | 1:32,153,183 | 60,828 |
| Algeria | 1 | 1:38,631,551 | 130,422 |
| Austria | 1 | 1:8,515,435 | 118,036 |
| Bulgaria | 1 | 1:6,978,905 | 86,260 |
| Sri Lanka | 1 | 1:20,808,560 | 18,521 |
| Spain | 1 | 1:46,752,036 | 156,870 |
| Guatemala | 1 | 1:16,082,668 | 12,169 |
| Singapore | 1 | 1:5,507,703 | 47,049 |
| Egypt | 1 | 1:91,935,754 | 132,737 |
| Peru | 1 | 1:31,784,123 | 64,452 |
| Palau | 1 | 1:21,643 | 223 |
| Greenland | 1 | 1:56,379 | 1,133 |
| Mauritius | 1 | 1:1,293,417 | 16,552 |
| Hong Kong | 1 | 1:7,335,483 | 16,643 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ireland | 359 | 1:12,339 | 1,670 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 79 | 1:308,549 | 20,627 |
| Scotland | 8 | 1:467,902 | 12,875 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 567 | 1:88,569 | 9,169 |
Swords Surname Meaning
From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history
This surname is a corrupt form of the old personal name Siward, which see, famous in early Scottish history from its having been borne by the victor over Macbeth at the battle of Dunsinnan in 1054. John Swerd, Scotsman, who had a safe conduct into England in 1398, may be the John Swerde, master of a ship of Archambaud (Archibald), earl of Douglas, in 1405 (Bain, IV, 504,697). Alexander Suerd was burgess of Linlithgow in 1536 (Johnsoun), Malcolm Sword, son of umquhile Christopher Sword, appears in Stirling in 1628, and Patrick Sword was treasurer of that burgh in 1631 (SBR., p. 162,165, 289), and burgess in 1646 (Inquis., 3122). Decree was obtained against James Suerd in 1531 (Cambus., 203), James Sourd or Suord was chosen Commissioner of the Kingdom for St. Andrews in 1653 (John Lamont, Diary, p. 46), and three individuals named Sword were residents in the parish of Borrjue in 1684 (RPC., 3. ser. IX, p. 567). Suorde 1641.
In mediaeval times this was often an Irish toponymic from the Co. Dublin village. More recently it has been found as a synonym of Clavin (q.v.), by mistranslation, or an anglicized form of Ó Suaird of Leix and Offaly. SIF 34
There are a number of families called Swords in Dublin at the present time. The name has, however, now usually no connexion with the Co. Dublin village of Swords,* but derives from two quite distinct Gaelic Irish surnames both of which belong to the counties of Offaly and Leix: in the former it is numerous to-day, as it is also in the neighbouring county of Kildare. So also is Clavin. Clavin is Ó Claimhín in Irish and was sometimes anglicized Swords in the mistaken assumption that the root word is claidheamh (a sword). The other derivation is simpler viz. from (Ó Suaird, which in a Fiant of 1562 is anglicized O'Sword, while two others of about the same date have O'Swerte: all three relate to the Leix-Offaly area. As early as 1016, probably before the era of fixed hereditary surnames, (Ó Suaird is mentioned by the Four Masters as the name of the then successor of St. Brigid (i.e. abbess of Kildare). The names Swords, Swoordes and Sourdes all occur in the Ulster inquisition of the first half of the seventeenth century. Apart from these every reference I have met to these two names relates to their midland homeland; but they are evidently not unknown in Co. Mayo, for Matheson's list of synonyms reported to him by local registrars includes Claveen and Swords at Ballinrobe.
From the weapon. It has several compounds, as Brownsword, Greensword, Longsword, &c.
From Swords, a town and parish of Ireland, co. Dublin.
Swords Demographics
Average Swords Salary in
United States
$41,758 USD
Per year
Average Salary in
United States
$43,149 USD
Per year
View the highest/lowest earning families in The United States
Swords Last Name Facts
Where Does The Last Name Swords Come From? nationality or country of origin
The last name Swords is carried by more people in The United States than any other country/territory. It may also appear in the variant forms:. Click here to see other potential spellings of this name.
How Common Is The Last Name Swords? popularity and diffusion
This last name is the 94,509th most frequently occurring last name in the world It is held by approximately 1 in 1,445,368 people. The last name Swords occurs mostly in The Americas, where 69 percent of Swords live; 69 percent live in North America and 69 percent live in Anglo-North America.
This surname is most frequent in The United States, where it is borne by 3,412 people, or 1 in 106,231. In The United States it is mostly found in: Georgia, where 10 percent are found, Ohio, where 9 percent are found and Mississippi, where 9 percent are found. Beside The United States this last name occurs in 34 countries. It also occurs in Ireland, where 12 percent are found and England, where 12 percent are found.
Swords Family Population Trend historical fluctuation
The prevalency of Swords has changed over time. In The United States the number of people carrying the Swords last name rose 602 percent between 1880 and 2014; in Ireland it rose 170 percent between 1901 and 2014; in England it rose 744 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Scotland it rose 388 percent between 1881 and 2014.
Swords Last Name Statistics demography
The religious devotion of those holding the last name is predominantly Catholic (100%) in Ireland.
In The United States Swords are 25.61% more likely to be registered Republicans than the national average, with 72.38% being registered to vote for the political party.
The amount Swords earn in different countries varies notably. In United States they earn 3.22% less than the national average, earning $41,758 USD per year and in Canada they earn 18.04% more than the national average, earning $58,648 CAD per year.
Phonetically Similar Names
Search for Another Surname
Swords Reference & Research
SWORD FamilyTree DNA Group - A group collating DNA test results for those who bear the surname, includes results of DNA tests and discussions.
SWORD FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.
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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 Swords
- To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on FamilySearch, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis