Leven Family History
Leven Name Meaning
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’.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
