Etymology

Gustav

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Today it means: A male given name from the Germanic languages. Full definition →

Old Swedish Gøtstaf
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The story

  1. Old Swedish · derived fromGøtstaf
  2. English todayGustav

A common royal name in Sweden, from Old Swedish Gøtstaf, from Old Norse Gautr (“Geat/Goth”) + stafr (“staff”). The oldest record in Sweden dates back to the year 1225 ("Gostauus"). In Peder Swart's chronicle about Gustav Vasa dated in the mid-1500s, the name is spelled Götstaff and is assumed to mean "Staff of the Geats."

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.