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Surname Etymology and Meaning of SWIFT

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Name meanings and etymologies are often disputed. The information here is compiled from freely available sources, and no claims whatsoever are made for accuracy, either historical or etymological.

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

Source: An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import (1857).

1. English: nickname for a rapid runner, from Middle English swift ‘fleet’.
2. Irish: Anglicization (part translation) of Gaelic Ó Fuada (see Foody).
3. Americanized form of some like-sounding Jewish name.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names (2003)