Old English origin
Source-reportedFrom Old English Swīþhūn.
Sources for this account (1)
- Wiktionary: SwithunCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
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A name. A world of connections.
Old English roots
/ˈswɪðən/ · English
01 / Meaning & origin
Swithun is a masculine given name documented in English. English Wiktionary traces it to Old English Swīþhūn.
From Old English Swīþhūn.
02 / Across borders
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Documented as a given name in English.
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03 / By the numbers
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No official statistics are imported for this spelling. No statistical dataset covering this spelling has been imported yet. See data coverage.
04 / Through time
Passages quoted verbatim from public-domain reference works. They reflect the scholarship of their time, not current consensus, and may use obsolete spellings.
SWITHUN— “strong friend”
Suintila was an old Gothic king of Spain, Swithbert, one of the early Anglo-Saxon missionaries, especially honoured as the converter of the kindred land of Friesland, where he was revered as St. Swibert. Swithelm was another Saxon form; but the most noted amongst us was Swithun, the bishop of Winchester, tutor to King Alfred, and endowed with many supposed miracles, the best known of which was the forty days' rain, by which, like other honest English saints, he testified his…
Suintila was an old Gothic king of Spain, Swithbert, one of the early Anglo-Saxon missionaries, especially honoured as the converter of the kindred land of Friesland, where he was revered as St. Swibert. Swithelm was another Saxon form; but the most noted amongst us was Swithun, the bishop of Winchester, tutor to King Alfred, and endowed with many supposed miracles, the best known of which was the forty days' rain, by which, like other honest English saints, he testified his displeasure at having his bones meddled with. The Germans have had Swidburg, Swintfried, Swidger; but in general this has served as a feminine termination, as in Melicent, Frediswid, and in all the many _swiths_ and _swinds_ of the Franks and Goths.
Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), Part VI, Chapter VI (Descriptive Names), Section VI (Power) · Public domain (Project Gutenberg)
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06 / Behind the facts
Review status: Source-reported — no editorial review recorded yet. Last data change 2026-10-15.
Wiktionary text: CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata: CC0. Commons recordings retain their individual file licences. Complete attribution is available in each group above and alongside each chart.
