Levy surname meaning

Levy is chiefly a Jewish Ashkenazic and Sephardic surname from the Biblical personal name Levi, from a Hebrew word meaning “joining.” Levi was a son of Jacob and Leah; bearers traditionally belong to the Levites, the tribe that assisted the kohanim in priestly duties (compare Cohen). Spellings include Levi, Lévy, and related Levine or Lowy forms. DAFN separately notes Czech Levý, a nickname for a left-handed person, which is unrelated. Parent’s name is high confidence for the Levi personal-name and Levite-lineage path that dominates American Levy families; the Czech look-alike is a minority stream under the same Latin spelling.