Lavin Family History

Irish (Connacht): reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Láimhín, a reduced form of Ó Flaithimhín ‘descendant of Flaithimhín’, a personal name from a diminutive of flaith ‘prince’, ‘ruler’. This name is sometimes translated Hand, from the similarity of the reduced form to lámh ‘hand’. English: from the medieval female personal name Lavin(a) (from Latin Lavinia, of unknown origin) . Spanish (Lavín): habitational name from Lavin, a place so named in the Santander province. Respelling of French Lavigne.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press