The Swan surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 23,001 people carried this name — #1,564 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 12,800 people counted. That is up 4% from 22,082 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Swan surname

A surname transferred from the nickname.

From swan, the bird.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Swan» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a baptismal name, from a given name: ‘the son of Swan’ — the first of the origins he gives.

An early record he cites: Geoffrey Svan, Cambridgeshire, 1273 — Hundred Rolls.

His entry covers Swan, Swann, Swanne and Swanson.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 730 · public domain.

In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890

Ireland registered 23 births for the Swan name in 1890.

Most were registered in Ulster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 1,000 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. 4 of them were indexed under other spellings of the name. The Registrar-General’s note on the name: “Dublin and Antrim.”

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born, 1890

Ulster 14
Leinster 9

Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

39 people named Swan live in Switzerland.

They live in 4 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Vaud 16
Geneva 9
Zurich 8
Valais 6

Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.

In the Nordic population registers

104 people named Swan is counted in Sweden.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 104

Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Swan was found among the farmers of 4 counties.

It was most frequent in Northumberland: 17 in every 10,000 farmers there — about 1 in 588. Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent. His list gives one count for the spellings Swan and Swann.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

Northumberland 17
Durham 15
Essex 12
Derbyshire 11

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.

In Scotland, 1880s

Swan was 13 in every 10,000 names in Scotland.

That is about 1 in 769. Its home there, in Guppy’s words: “South of Scotland, especially towards the Scottish border.” He counted the more than 20,000 names in Halliburton’s County Directory of Scotland, taking Scotland as a whole, and listed only the names that reached 10 in every 10,000.

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), appendix: alphabetical list of the most frequent Scottish names, p. 594 — public domain · names in Halliburton’s County Directory of Scotland, per 10,000 for the whole country.

In Scotland’s registers today

Swan was recorded 91 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 286th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 126. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

332 families named Swan, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 1,889 people lived in those households, 5.7 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 6 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Massachusetts 93
New Hampshire 44
North Carolina 43
Maryland 35
Pennsylvania 33
Connecticut 27
New York 19
Maine 11
Virginia 8
Vermont 7
South Carolina 7
Rhode Island 5

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 264 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Swan in American newspapers,
1841–1897.

Newspaper page from The News And Herald carrying the name Swan
The News And Herald 1876-11-30
Newspaper page from The Pioche Weekly Record carrying the name Swan
The Pioche Weekly Record 1897-07-07
Newspaper page from Bloomington Herald carrying the name Swan
Bloomington Herald 1841-04-02

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 11,631 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Swan in Australian newspapers,
1820s–2010s.

107,114 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Swan. The most, 16,030, date from the 1930s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Tasmania, at 1.5 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 34,002
Victoria 26,696
Queensland 18,218
Tasmania 10,661
South Australia 9,518
Western Australia 6,819
ACT (Canberra) 998
Northern Territory 58

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Swan.

Who carried it

People named Swan,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Jean Swan d. 2026 · community leader
  • James Swan d. 2021 · researcher
  • Hannah Mildred Swan d. 1932
  • Rose Eleanor Fynes-Clinton d. 1921
  • Eunice Stephanie Swan d. 2003
  • Margaret Swan d. 1823

Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Swan,
in the records of 9 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States3,171 records

3,171 records of the Swan name in the United States
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 845
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 793
  • Other U.S. records 1,533
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Clarence A. Swan

    Born 1914 in North Carolina. Enlisted 1942 at Fort George G Meade, Maryland; warehouseman. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1998, buried at Rolling Green Memorial Park, Pennsylvania.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Russell W. Swan

    Born 1908 in Minnesota. Enlisted 1943 at Los Angeles, California; commercial artist. U.S. Air Force veteran of World War II; died 1963, buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery, California.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Jeanie Swan

    Arrived at New York in 1892 aboard the Furnessia from Glasgow, aged 50; weaver. From Lanark, Scotland; bound for New Jersey.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 3,171 records for Swan in the United States.

Counts: NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · City of Asheville (public domain, PDDL). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia2,386 records

2,386 records of the Swan name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 1,201
  • Tasmanian Names Index 458
  • Other Australian records 727
  1. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Mary Swan

    Died 1869 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 69. Will registered in Tasmania in 1869.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Sarah Ann Swan

    Born 1852 in Westbury, Tasmania. Married 1884 in Westbury, Tasmania, aged 32.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record James Swan

    Transported to New South Wales aboard the Hadlow, arriving 1818; ticket of leave 1834. Native of Wakely?.

    Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)

Showing 3 of 2,386 records for Swan in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain); Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain).

Netherlands718 records

718 records of the Swan name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 319
  • Dutch population registers 232
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 167
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Hillebrand Swan

    Married in 1867 in Warmenhuizen; farmer. Died 1898 in Alkmaar, aged 64.

    Open Archives, Noord-Hollands Archief (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Maarten Swan

    Married in 1916 in 's-Gravenhage; house painter. Died 1969 in 's-Gravenhage, aged 77.

    Open Archives, Haags Gemeentearchief (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Adriana Swan

    Born 1848 in Utrecht. Died 1882 in Utrecht, aged 33.

    Open Archives, Het Utrechts Archief (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 718 records for Swan in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Canada474 records

474 records of the Swan name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 351
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 43
  • Other Canadian records 80
  1. The first page of an emigration file from Gündlingen, Baden, 1883
    Example: German emigration file, 1883
    Emigration record Richard Swan

    Left New York in 1783 aboard the L'Abondence, bound for Port Roseway, aged 22.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Jas Swan

    Came to Ontario in 1880 aboard the Montreal, landing at Quebec, bound for Hornby, Ontario; Irish.

    Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record John Alexander Swan

    Buried in 1989 at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, aged 70.

    Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax.

Showing 3 of 474 records for Swan in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Emigration file, Gündlingen, 1883, Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Staatsarchiv Freiburg B 694/1 Nr. 1389 (CC BY 4.0); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).

United Kingdom133 records

133 records of the Swan name in the United Kingdom
  • Stirling Council burial records 81
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 34
  • Other British records 18
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Mary Swan

    Died 1947, aged 87; buried at Aberfoyle Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Elizabeth Ann Swan

    Will proved in 1928; of Neneaton, Warwick.

    National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0)
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record C. Swan

    Coldstream Guards. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 133 records for Swan in the United Kingdom.

Counts: Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain) · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

New Zealand18 records

18 records of the Swan name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 16
  • Thames-Coromandel District cemetery records 2
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Alice Tait Swan

    Died 1960, aged 81; buried at Ruru Lawn, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record William George Swan

    Buried in 1950 at Totara Memorial Park Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato, aged 59.

    Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 18 records for Swan in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

France6 records

6 records of the Swan name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Therese Swan

    Born 1896 in Paris; died 1976 in Moulins (Allier).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  2. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Pierre Jean Swan

    Born 1923 in Great Britain; died 1995 in Lille (Nord).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 2 of 6 records for Swan in France.

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Norway4 records

4 records of the Swan name in Norway Norway's 1910 census
  1. A page of the 1910 United States census, Milwaukee
    Example: U.S. census, 1910
    Census record Johan Aleksius Swan

    Census of 1910: Ruseløkveien, Kristiania; born 1877 in Fredrikshald.

    Arkivverket, Digitalarkivet, 1910 census (CC BY 3.0 NO)
  2. A page of the 1910 United States census, Milwaukee
    Example: U.S. census, 1910
    Census record Rakel Swan

    Census of 1910: Ruseløkveien, Kristiania; born 1903 in Kristiania.

    Arkivverket, Digitalarkivet, 1910 census (CC BY 3.0 NO)

Showing 2 of 4 records for Swan in Norway.

Counts: Arkivverket, Digitalarkivet, 1910 census (CC BY 3.0 NO). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. census of 1910, Milwaukee (public domain).

Germany1 record

1 record of the Swan name in Germany Germany's First World War casualty lists, 1914–1919
  1. A page of the German First World War casualty lists, 18 April 1918
    Example: German casualty list, 1918
    Casualty list Friedrich Swan

    From Konstantinopel. Reported dead in the Prussian casualty list of 22 August 1918.

    Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)

Counts: Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Deutsche Verlustlisten, Prussian list 1116, 18 April 1918 (scan via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0).

Other spellings of this name

The same name, spelled another way.

Spellings that H. B. Guppy (England and Wales, 1890) or the Registrar-General for Ireland (births index of 1890) counted as one name together with Swan.

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Swan.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Swan is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the Swan volume
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