Leven

This name is derived from the Middle English given name "Lefwine", (Old English "Leofwine"), composed of the elements "laof" meaning "dear" or "beloved", plus, "wine" a friend. One Wilfricus filius (son of) Leofwini is recorded in the Old English Bynames Register in 1010. The surname may also be derived from an Anglicized form of the Gaelic patronymic Mac Giolla Giullin, "son of (mac) the servant of (giolla) William". The modern idiom of the spelling includes Lewins, Lewen, Livens, Levens. In 1660 Elonor Lewen was born at Kirk Michael, Isle of Man. George, son of Thomas and Mary Lewens, was christened in London in March 1700. Jemima Scot Lewen was born in East Lothian, Haddington, Scotland on the 29th July 1869. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Lewyn, which was dated 1230, in the "Northamptonshire Register", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.