Svoboda is a common surname among West Slavic nations. Svobodová is a Czech feminine form of the surname. For more than century it is one of the three most common Czech surnames.
The primary meaning of the word is "freedom" or "liberty" in the Czech language. As a surname, it used to refer to "free men" (to distinguish them from "serfs"). In the old Czech orthography the word was written as Swoboda and this spelling is still preserved in countries where the letter "w" is common, such as Poland or German-speaking countries. The Slovak, Croatian and Serbian version is written as "Sloboda".
Adam Svoboda (born 1978), a Czech ice hockey goaltender
Antonín Svoboda (1907–1980), a Czech computer scientist, mathematician, electrical engineer, and researcher
Bill Svoboda (1928–1980), an American football linebacker
Bohuslav Svoboda, Czech politician, mayor of Prague
Cyril Svoboda (born 1956), former Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
David Svoboda, Czech modern pentathlete
František Svoboda (1906–1948), a Czech football player
František Svoboda (canoeist) (born 1904), a Czechoslovak canoeist
Gabriela Svobodová (born 1953), a former Czech cross country skier
Hana Svobodová, beauty competition winner
J. Steven Svoboda, a patent lawyer
Jakub Svoboda, Czech ice hockey player
Jaroslav Svoboda (born 1980), Czech ice hockey right winger
Jim Svoboda, American football coach
Jiří Svoboda (canoeist) (born 1954), a Czechoslovak sprint canoeist
Jiří Svoboda (volleyball) (born 1941), a Czech former volleyball player
Jiřina Ptáčníková Svobodová, (born 1986), Czech female pole vaulter, wife of the Czech hurdler Petr Svoboda
Jindřich Svoboda (footballer) (born 1952), a Czech football player
Jindřich Svoboda (aviator) (1917–1942), a Czech bomber captain in the RAF
Josef Svoboda (1920–2002), a Czech artist and scenic designer
Karel Svoboda (1938–2007), a Czech composer of popular music
Karel Svoboda (artist) (1824–1870), a Czech painter of historical scenes
Květoslav Svoboda (born 1982), a Czech freestyle swimmer
Ludvík Svoboda (1895–1979), a Czechoslovak general and politician
Marcel Svoboda (born 1976), a Czech ski mountaineer
Martin Svoboda (born 1975), Czech football goalkeeper
Milan Svoboda, a Czechoslovak slalom canoeist
Miroslav Svoboda (disambiguation), multiple people
Oldřich Svoboda (born 1967), Czech ice hockey goalkeeper
Patrik Svoboda (born 1994), Czech football player
Pavel Svoboda (born 1962), a Czech politician and lawyer
Pavel Svoboda (organist) (born 1987), a Czech Organist
Petr Svoboda (born 1966), a retired Czech professional ice hockey defenseman
Petr Svoboda (athlete) (born 1984), a Czech athlete, competing in the hurdle sprint
Petr Svoboda (ice hockey b. 1980) (born 1980), a former professional ice hockey defenceman
Radoslav Svoboda, Czech ice hockey player
Stanislav Svoboda, Czech cyclist
Svatopluk Svoboda (1886–1971), a Czech gymnast
Terese Svoboda, an American author from New York City
Tomáš Svoboda (composer) (born 1939), a prolific Czech-American contemporary classical composer
Tomáš Svoboda (ice hockey) (born 1987), a Czech ice hockey forward
Zdeněk Svoboda (born 1972), a former professional footballer
