Kivi Family History

Finnish: ornamental name from kivi ‘stone rock’. Adopted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Finns without surnames or with Swedish surnames especially those formed with Swedish sten ‘stone’ such as Stenberg (compare Laine).

In North America this is sometimes also a shortened form of various other Finnish surnames formed with the word kivi such as Kivijärvi (see Stonelake).

The surname Kivi is also established in Estonia where it is even more common than in Finland.