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Author: LauraLi007
Surnames:
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.chance/701.2.1/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
Hi Anthony,
I am not really sure about the origin of the name. As far as I know, we don't have
any Jewish or Swedish ancestry. According to babynamesworld, Levin is Hebrew for
"heart" and English for "dear friend".
The site also says "A Russian surname deriving from the given name Lev. Like Levina
it was adopted by a large number of Russian Jews, particularly those descended from the
Levites. It was never as popular as a given name as Levina. Levin has also been used as a
Christian name as late as the 17th century. Transferred use of the surname, it comes from
the common Old English name Leofwin meaning "dear friend."
I hope this helps.
Laura
P.S. Sorry about the 3 year delay in response -- I only recently got back to working on
the family history searching :)
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