Elvet

EHL-veht

Old English, place name

"swan stream, swan river, swan island"

Elvet Origin and Meaning

The name Elvet is a boy's name meaning "swan stream, swan river, swan island".

This Old English name feels as if it could have stepped out of a fantasy novel, but it may be just similar enough to Everett and Elliot that it could work in the real world. Derived from the elements elfitu meaning "swan" and either ēa meaning "stream, river" or ēg meaning "island", it is a nature related option name, given to an area in the city of Durham in England.

Another possible origin is from the medieval Welsh poem, Y Gododdin, about a hero king who fights and dies at the Battle of Catraeth in the 7th century. Known as Madog Elfed or Madawc Elvet, it is suggested that readers are meant to interpret Madog as King of Elvet, Elvet possibly referring to a place in Wales, the aforementioned Durham area, or to Elmet, an old independent kingdom in what is now Yorkshire. In this case, Elvet or Elfed could be a poetic Welsh word for "autumn", though this is speculation rather than certain.