Show ContentsLevan History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The French surname name Levan is derived from the Old French word "vanier," which referred to someone employed to blow the chaff from wheat, a practice known as winnowing.

Early Origins of the Levan family

The surname Levan was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where this distinguished family held a family seat in the seigneurie of Bauviers as members of the aristocracy of that region.

Early History of the Levan family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Levan research. Another 70 words (5 lines of text) covering the year 1789 is included under the topic Early Levan History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Levan Spelling Variations

Throughout the course of history most surnames have undergone changes for many reasons. During the early development of the French language, a son and father may not have chosen to spell their name the same way. Many are simple spelling changes by a person who gave his name, phonetically, to a scribe, priest, or recorder. Many names held prefixes or suffixes which became optional as they passed through the centuries, or were adopted by different branches to signify either a political or religious adherence. Hence, we have many spelling variations of this name, Levan some of which are Vanier, Vannier, Vanniere, Vanner, Vaner, Vaniere, Le Vanier, Levanier, Le Vannier, Levannier, Le Vanner and many more.

Early Notables of the Levan family

More information is included under the topic Early Levan Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Levan Ranking

In the United States, the name Levan is the 9,943rd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1


United States Levan migration to the United States +

In 1643, 109 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 people in Quebec, in 1663 there were only 500, 2,000 migrants arrived during the next decade. Early marriage was desperately encouraged amongst the immigrants. Youths of 18 took fourteen-year-old girls for their wives. The fur trade was developed and attracted migrants, both noble and commoner from France. 15,000 explorers left Montreal in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Migration from France to New France or Quebec as it was now more popularly called, continued from France until it fell in 1759. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. By the same year the Acadian presence in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island had reached 500. In 1755, 10,000 French Acadians refused to take an oath of allegiance to England and were deported to Louisiana. Meanwhile, in Quebec, the French race flourished, founding in Lower Canada, one of the two great solitudes which became Canada. Many distinguished contributions have been made by members of this family name Levan. It has been prominent in the arts, religion, politics and culture in France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Levan were

Levan Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Abraham Levan, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1715 2
  • Isaac LeVan, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1725 2
  • Jacob LeVan, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1725 2
  • Abraham LeVan, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1725 2
  • Daniel Levan, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1727 aboard the ship "William and Sarah" 2
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Levan Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • John Levan, aged 20, who landed in America, in 1893
  • A. B. Levan, aged 36, who immigrated to the United States from London, in 1896
  • Yanoz Levan, aged 30, who immigrated to the United States, in 1897
Levan Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
  • Maude Evelyn Levan, aged 23, who immigrated to America from London, England, in 1907
  • Oskar Levan, who landed in America, in 1907
  • Guy Levan, aged 6, who landed in America from London, England, in 1907
  • H Elizabeth Levan, aged 0, who immigrated to the United States from London, England, in 1907
  • Harry Levan, aged 33, who landed in America from London, England, in 1907
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Canada Levan migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Levan Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century
  • Daniel K Levan, who landed in Canada in 1831

Contemporary Notables of the name Levan (post 1700) +

  • Eric Le Van (b. 1964), American classical pianist, best known for his interpretations of the music of Brahms and Scriabin; he has performed at the Weimar Franz Liszt Festival, the Beethovenfest in Bonn, the Kennedy Center and the Library of Congress in Washington D.C
  • Alexis LeVan (b. 1986), American beauty queen from Sioux Falls, South Dakota
  • Jesse Roy Levan (1926-1998), American Major League Baseball player
  • Larry Levan (1954-1992), born Lawrence Philpot, American DJ best known for his decade-long residency at the New York City night club Paradise Garage
  • Martin Levan, English Grammy Award winning music producer and sound engineer
  • Albert Levan (1905-1998), Swedish botanist and geneticist
  • Virgil LeVan Seay (b. 1958), former American football wide receiver
  • J. Levan Metzger, American politician, Member of Pennsylvania State House of Representatives from Blair County, 1891-92 3


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  3. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 12) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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