Swist

Borrowed from Polish Świst.

Swist (plural Swists)

1. A surname from Polish.

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Swist is the 51610^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 403 individuals. Swist is most common among White (79.4%) and Black/African American (15.88%) individuals.

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Swist”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 3, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN.

• wists

• Schwist, Zwist (obsolete)

From Old High German *Zwist, attested in Zuistachgowe (8th century), probably from Proto-Germanic *twistaz as “a forking, branching-off” (compare Middle English twisten in this sense). The form in Zw- is attested until at least the 15th century. After that, a pronunciation in /ʃ/ seems to have developed. The spelling Swist is possibly a compromise form between older Zwist and younger Schwist. The contemporary pronunciation must be a spelling pronunciation as neither Standard German nor the Ripuarian dialect know sw onsets. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Please specify the local dialect forms.”)

• IPA^(key): /svɪst/, [sʋɪst]

die Swist f (proper noun, usually definite, definite genitive der Swist)

1. a brook running west of Bonn in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany