Surname Lev - Meaning and Origin
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Lev: What does the surname Lev mean?
The last name Lev is derived from the Hebrew word lew, meaning “heart.” It is a common Jewish name that is found mainly in communities that have a history of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, though it can also be found among Mizrahi and Sephardi Jews. The spelling of the name can vary from Lev to Lew, Levy, Lewy, Lewin, Lewinsky, and others.
The exact origin of the name is somewhat unclear. It is thought to have originated in the middle ages, when it was used to describe a person with a special talent or superior intellect. Another possible source is that the name is derived from the Greek name λεων (leōn), which can mean “lion.”
The most notable bearer of the name is Mark Lev, the founder of Michigan-based Lev Management Corporation. He is a self-made multi-millionaire who is a vocal advocate for the idea that education is the key to success and that everyone should have access to higher education, regardless of their socio-economic background.
The name Lev is also associated with the ability to persevere and thrive in the face of adversity, as many notable Lev individuals have achieved success against the odds. It is a moniker that is often associated with tenacity, hard work, and ambition, allowing those that bear the name to create a lasting legacy.
Order DNA origin analysisLev: Where does the name Lev come from?
The surname Lev is most commonly found in Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe, specifically among Jewish communities. The surname is derived from the Hebrew root word “lev” meaning heart, and has been used in Europe since at least the 17th century. It is believed to have originated with a Jewish family who had reached Poland from Germany.
The surname began to spread throughout Eastern Europe, and today it is common in countries like Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. In Russia alone, the surname Lev can be found among roughly 38,000 people. In Ukraine, roughly 3,800 people bear the surname. Belarus has the smallest population of Lev’s with approximately 2,500 people.
The surname Lev is also present in Israeli culture, where it is pronounced differently due to the usage of the Hebrew alphabet and language. Israeli citizens have been known to use the surname Levi in place of Lev, but it is often pronounced as “lee-v”.
Today, people with the surname Lev can be found living all around the world. Large numbers of people bearing the surname can be found in countries like the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, indicating that it has spread since its original roots in Eastern Europe.
Variations of the surname Lev
The surname Lev (also spelled Levi) is likely of either Hebrew or Aramaic origin and is derived from the word “lawi”, which in both languages means “joined” or “connected”. It is commonly associated with the Biblical figure Levi, who was Jacob's third son in the Old Testament, and is thought to be an occupational name, indicating Levi was likely a teacher or religious official.
Variants of the surname Lev include Lew, Löw, Levai and Loeb. It is also common for people with this surname to add a suffix such as “-ski” or “-son”, so variations like “Levinski” and “Levinsson” exist. Due to its Jewish origins, it is also common for this name to appear in the hyphenated forms “Lev-” and “Löw-”, while in some countries like Hungary, it is sometimes found written as “Leovey”.
The Levy is a variant of the surname Lev likely derived from a French spelling of the name, while many surnames derived from variations or anglicized versions of the original name, such as Levine, Levene, Levenson, Levinsohn, Levinson, Levitas and Lewin, have all become popular.
In Germany, Levy was historically used as a Jewish surname variation, while in England, variations of the name “Levy” were often found in records of Jewish immigrant communities of Eastern Europe who had come over to Britain. Today, many of the surnames beginning with “Löw-” are still found in Jewish communities of Eastern Europe.
Finally, the surname Levitsky is a Jewish variant of the original surname Lev and is mostly found among Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. This surname is thought to have originated as a patronymic name, indicating that they were the son of someone named Lev.
Famous people with the name Lev
- Lev Gulak: Canadian inventor and academic who created the first foldable and wheeled transportation device in 1985.
- Lev Demin: Ukrainian swimmer who won a total of four medals, including two golds, at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
- Lev Polyakov: Russian doctor and cosmonaut who spent a total of 186 days in space on the International Space Station in 2003.
- Lev Landau: Nobel Prize winning physicist who was also the Director of the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Kharkov, Ukraine from 1926 to 1928.
- Lev Kuleshov: Soviet filmmaker and montagist who contributed to the development of cinematic language in the 1920s.
- Lev Yashin: Goalkeeper for the Soviet Union during their era of dominance in the sport from the 1950s to the 1970s.
- Lev Tolstoy: Russian author who is best known for his two novels, War and Peace and Anna Karenina.
- Lev Oborin: Russian pianist and composer who went on to found a music school in St. Petersburg.
- Lev Yudin: Geodesist and explorer of the Arctic who surveyed the eastern coastline of Russia from Murmansk to Tiksi during his career.
- Lev Krivitsky: Soviet defector who was a leader of the GRU, the military intelligence of the Soviet Union during the late 1920s and early 1930s.