Leven Family History

North German: from the ancient Germanic personal name represented by Old English Lēofwine composed of the elements lēof ‘dear beloved’ + wine ‘friend’.

Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Levin 1 and English and Scottish: habitational name from a place called Leven in East Yorkshire or possibly from Levens in Cumbria.

The Yorkshire place probably takes its name from a lost river name of British origin perhaps meaning ‘the slow moving one’.

The Cumbrian placename derives from the Old English personal name Lēofa ‘dear beloved’ + Old English næss ‘promontory headland’.