Meaning and Origin of: Leben

Family name origins & meanings

  • German : of uncertain origin, possibly a habitational name from places called Lebehn in eastern Mecklenburg and Pomerania.
  • Dutch : from a pet form of the Germanic personal name Liebrecht (composed of the elements liut ‘people’, ‘tribe’ + berhta ‘bright’).
  • Altered form of Slovenian Leban, which is probably a nickname derived from the archaic word leb ‘forehead’, ‘skull’.