Lev

Hebrew, Russian

"heart; lion"

Lev Origin and Meaning

The name Lev is a boy's name of Hebrew, Russian origin meaning "heart; lion".

This concise one-syllable name, has two possible derivations and two positive meanings associated with it. In Hebrew, it means "heart", while in Russian it means "lion". So strong and simple Lev has both a soft and a fierce side.

Lev is very uncommon in the US, ranking below the Top 1000, but feels eminently wearable thanks to similar names like Levi and Zev. It's a popular choice in Russia and the Netherlands, ranking in or around the Top 100 in both nations.

The leonine Lev is the Russian birth name of the great novelist Tolstoy, and the mother of Liev Schreiber has stated that she named him in honor of the writer. In the Chaim Potok novel My Name is Asher Lev, about a Hasidic Jewish boy in New York, Lev is the character's surname.

Actress Candace Cameron has a son she named Lev.

Lev Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 379 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Lev

• 379 Nameberry 2025
• 84 Unique 2023
• 920 England 2023
• 46 Slovenia 2023

20 Names Similar to Lev

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Lev.

• Rainer
• Bastien
• Bryn
• Malachy
• Tobin
• Locke
• Cas
• Finneas
• Calloway
• Liev
• Bjorn
• Seb
• Oren
• Marlowe
• Mika
• Teo
• Rainier
• Leith
• Teague
• Olivier

Famous People Named Lev

• Lev Nikolayevich "Leo" Tolstoy Russian novelist
• Lev Davidovich Bronshtein birth name of Soviet leader Leon Trotsky
• Lev Lvovich Sedov son of Leon Trotsky
• Lev Davidovich Landau Azerbaijani Soviet physicist and Nobel prize winner
• Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky Belorussian psychologist
• Lev Grossman American novelist and journalist
• Lev Ivanovich Yashin Russian football goalkeeper
• Lev Matveyevich Vainshtein Russian Olympic shooter
• Lev L. Spiro American film and TV director
• Lev Avnerovich Leviev Uzbek,Israeli businessman and philanthropist
• Lev Vladimirovich Kuleshov Russian film director and theorist
• Lev Borisovich Kamenev Russian revolutionary and Soviet leader
• Lev Osipovich Alburt Russian chess grandmaster and writer
• Lev Valerievich Bure (b. 2000) son of actress Candace Cameron Bure and Valeri Vladimirovich Bure
• Lev Rapace (b. 2003) son of actress Noomi Rapace
• Mateo Lev Colicchio (b. 2011) son of chef Tom Colicchio
• Lev Cameron Khmelev French dancer, actor, buisnessman, and internet star.

The name Lev in Pop Culture

• Levi Jedediah "Lev" Calder character in "Unwind" by Neal Shusterman
• Lev Shapiro character in 2013 film "Frances Ha"
• Lev Haiba character in the anime "Haikyuu!!"
• Lev Shults character in Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Eye of the Heron"