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Help[Facts] Levein
The name LEVEIN LYONS belonged to a man born c1817. He married in London, England, in 1850 (Bethnal Green area). His father's name was Moses. Could this be a Jewish name? Could Levein have come to England from another country? Any ideas. Thanks
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Being English I can tell you that Bethnal Green was a very Jewish area.
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Levin is a well-known Jewish surname; here in South Africa its owners pronounce it LuhVEEN, which is close to the German version Satu gave us. But in England I've heard it pronounced LEVVin, e.g. Bernard Levin, journalist and TV person.
So, maybe the Levein spelling was an attempt to keep the German-Jewish pronunciation instead of the British-Jewish one. (My guess is that anyone named Moses in the 19th century was likely to be Jewish. Not today, though!)
So, maybe the Levein spelling was an attempt to keep the German-Jewish pronunciation instead of the British-Jewish one. (My guess is that anyone named Moses in the 19th century was likely to be Jewish. Not today, though!)
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Also, Watson, Levein Lyons was very likely a Frenchman: many French Jews adopted the names of towns and cities as surnames, Lyons being a typical example. Elementary.
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Or...
the surname originally might have been "Lowe" or "Lowen" in German (picture an umlaut over each "o", bitte). When Jews in German lands within the Holy Roman Empire were compelled to adopt surnames, they were limited in the range of names that were available. One category open to them was the names of animals, hence, possibly "lion" as a meaning.
Jews coming to Britain from Germany may well have changed the spelling of their surnames to something in English to assimilate; it sure happened frequently in the US.
"Lyon" has been a surname in England and Scotland for hundreds of years. "Lyons" is a variant and is also an IRISH surname in its own right, from various sources.
So altho the French origin of "Lyons" is a possibility in this case, so is an origin that avoids the land of Les Fromagards entirely.
- da.
the surname originally might have been "Lowe" or "Lowen" in German (picture an umlaut over each "o", bitte). When Jews in German lands within the Holy Roman Empire were compelled to adopt surnames, they were limited in the range of names that were available. One category open to them was the names of animals, hence, possibly "lion" as a meaning.
Jews coming to Britain from Germany may well have changed the spelling of their surnames to something in English to assimilate; it sure happened frequently in the US.
"Lyon" has been a surname in England and Scotland for hundreds of years. "Lyons" is a variant and is also an IRISH surname in its own right, from various sources.
So altho the French origin of "Lyons" is a possibility in this case, so is an origin that avoids the land of Les Fromagards entirely.
- da.
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Remarkable, Holmes!
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