First found in Kent where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, Duke William, commissioned a census of all England to determine in 1086, settling once and for all, who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086. The family are believed to originally of Lovergne near Calais, branched to Brabant, and thence to Kent in England. Jovelyn Louvaine was brother of Queen Adeliza, second wife of King Henry 1st. Jocelyn's father was Godfrey Barbatus, Duke of Lorraine and Count of Brabant who was descended from Charlemagne. He received as a wedding gift from Adeliza of the honor of Petworth in Sussex which held 21 knights' fees. He also received many other domains throughout the southern counties and married into the distinguished Percys of the north by his marriage to Agnes de Percy.

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• Ancient origin of the name (usually pre-1100)
• Known spelling variations
• Early movement of the family name during the Middle Ages
• Noteworthy bearers from the 1500-1600s
• First settlers to North America
• Notable contemporary bearers of the name
• A description and/or full color picture of the Coat of Arms, Crest, and Motto (where available)

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Casimir Lovain, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1807.

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