The name Gustav is derived from the Old Norse elements meaning "the staff of the Goths".
Famous bearers
This name has been borne by six kings of Sweden, including the 16th-century Gustav I Vasa.
Other bearers include Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (1824 - 1887), a German physicist;
Gustav Ludwig Hertz (1887 - 1975), a German physicist and Nobel Prize laureate.
