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Help[Facts] Re: Levein
in reply to a message by Anneza
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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