Family name origins & meanings
- Jewish (Ashkenazic) : German and Polish spelling of Levin.
- English, Dutch, and North German : from the Old English personal name Lēofwine, composed of the elements lēof ‘dear’, ‘beloved’ + wine ‘friend’. This was the name borne by an English missionary who became the patron saint of Ghent, and the personal name was consequently popular in the Low Countries during the Middle Ages.
- Irish and Manx : reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Giolla Guillin ‘son of the servant of William’.