Levi is a name that sounds modern but has ancient biblical roots. In the Book of Genesis, Levi was one of the 12 sons of Jacob and Leah, and he became important enough to have an entire tribe of Hebrew priests named after him, the Levites.
The name Levi (pronounced lee-vye and sometimes leh-vee) comes from the Hebrew word lewi, meaning "joined" or "adhered." That meaning also comes with a story: Levi's mother, Leah, was never sure of her husband Jacob's loyalty to her. By naming her third son Levi, it seems she hoped to give Jacob a not-so-subtle hint.
Levi is also considered to be a diminutive of the Hungarian name Levente, which means "hero." And, though historically unrelated to its use as a personal name, Levi does share etymological roots with the biblical sea serpent figure Leviathan.
This timeless name was also an alias of the apostle Saint Matthew. There are two other Levis in the New Testament, both of whom were thought to be ancestors of Jesus.
Levi was traditionally used as a name for Jewish boys before Protestant parents picked the name up in the 19th century. We can credit the Puritans, however, for embracing the name and taking it with them from England to New England. Census records show that while there were fewer than 5,000 Levis living in England in the early 1850s, there were more than 36,000 Levis in New England.
Plenty of remarkable people have borne this name throughout history, perhaps most notably Levi (Loeb) Strauss, a German Jewish immigrant who founded Levi Strauss & Co. The iconic denim blue jean company is one of the oldest companies in America, established in San Francisco in 1853.
Typically ranked in the top 20 boys' names on BabyCenter, Levi is riding a wave of popularity that started more than a decade ago. It's also gaining some traction as a name for girls, though it's not close to the top 1,000 in popularity. (BabyCenter's ranking is based on data from hundreds of thousands of parents who share their baby's name with us.)
Levi has been in the top 500 names for boys in the United States since 1900, according the Social Security Administration. But it didn't break through to the top 100 most popular names until 2009. This sudden move may have been influenced by actor Matthew McConaughey giving his son the name Levi in 2008. (Singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow and U2 guitarist David "the Edge" Howell Evans also named their sons Levi.)
The newfound popularity is global. Levi is used widely in Scandinavia and Northern Europe, and it's been among the top 50 names in 13 countries. Levi comes in several other international forms as well, including:
- Leevi
- Levin
- Lewin
- Levey
- Levon
- Le'Vi
Levi is also a common Jewish surname, sometimes spelled Levy or Levis and anchoring the variations Levine, Levit, and Levitsky.
Though Levi works well as a gender-neutral name, there are also more feminine variations like Levina (which has Spanish, Russian, or Ukrainian Jewish origins) and the Roman version Levinia.
Thousands of years after it named a tribe, Levi is still going strong – and probably will be for years to come.
