Lever

• Spanish:/lebeɾ/○(machine-generated) model-generated

Readings marked model-generated were transcribed by a model; the others are quoted from the dictionary named.

Attested across 7 languages in the etymology graph.

Lever is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish surname5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Colombia, Chile, United States, Mexico

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Levèr, Lêvêr, Léver

• French surname4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Lęvêr, Lèvèr

• Arabic surname3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Egypt, United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates

  Also written Lèvér

46 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Lever is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, from OFr levre 'hare', or from Great/Little Lever (Lancashire) or reedy ground; first attested Ralph le Levere 1276 RH (Leicestershire) and Dande de Leuer 1246 AssLa.

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In English, A rigid piece which is capable of turning about one point, or axis (fulcrum), and in which are two or more other points where forces are applied; — used for transmitting and modifying force and motion.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Italian, var. regional de Lepre.

  as a name·Dicionário dos sobrenomes italianos

• In Latin, first-person singular present passive subjunctive of lēvō

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, to raise, lift

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• William Hesketh Leverb. 1851GBEnglish industrialist, philanthropist, and politician (1851-1925)
• Johnny Leverb. 1957INIndian actor
• Fat Leverb. 1960USAmerican basketball player (born 1960)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

31 registers and reference works attest this spelling, across 19 countries.

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

What does the name Lever mean, and where does it come from?

‘person living in a place growing with rushes’; or from a Norman nickname for a swift-running or timorous person; perhaps from the Old English personal name Leofhere, literally ‘beloved army’. Recorded by Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history].

How do you pronounce Lever?

In Spanish /lebeɾ/. Transcriptions are machine-generated except where a dictionary is named.

Which countries have the most people with the surname Lever?

Mondonomo estimates about 2.9 thousand people named Lever in the United Kingdom, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled lever. After it come United States, Australia, Canada and South Africa; the country table on this page ranks them.

Where is Lever most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Lever is densest in Slovenia — about 1 in 21 thousand people — even though United Kingdom holds more of our records for it.

How common is the name Lever?

In the United States, the national register counted 2,135 people named Lever in 2010, about 1 in 156 thousand residents.