Family name origins & meanings
- English : (of Norman origin) nickname from Anglo-Norman French leuet ‘wolf cub’ (see Low 3).
- English : habitational name from any of the various places in Normandy called Livet. All are of obscure, presumably Gaulish, etymology.
- English : from the Middle English personal name Lefget, Old English Lēofgēat, composed of the elements lēof ‘dear’, ‘beloved’ + the tribal name Gēat (see Jocelyn).
- English : possibly from an unrecorded Middle English survival of the Old English female personal name Lēofḡð, composed of the elements lēof ‘dear’, ‘beloved’ + ḡð ‘battle’.
- English : Early American Leavitts include John Leavitt, who was born 1608 in England and married in Hingham, MA, in 1637. His descendants spread to NH.