Levin (surname)

Levin (original Russian: Левин) is a surname with several word origins. It is a common Ashkenazi Jewish surname (Levine/Levin/Levi).

In the Jewish variant (a form of Levy) it is derivative of one of the 12 Jewish biblical tribes, the tribe of Levi, whose descendants the Levites had distinctive duties in the Temple period.

In the Russian variant, Levin comes from lev (лев) which means lion in Russian. It can also be pronounced Lyovin (Лёвин) which is a patronymic form of Лёва.

Other variations include Lavin, Lavine, Le Neve, Levene, Levi, Levina, Levine, Levitt, Levy, Lewin, Lieven, Levins and Levinson.

People with the name "Levin" (and Russian feminine variant Levina) include:

A–I

 * A. Leo Levin (1919–2015), American law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School
 * Adam K. Levin, former director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs and businessman in consumer credit-related businesses
 * Adam Levin, fiction author
 * Alan Levin (business), American businessmen, CFO of drug maker Pfizer
 * Alan Levin (filmmaker) (1926–2006), American filmmaker and journalist
 * Alan Levin (Internet governance), South African computer scientist and Internet activist
 * Aleksandr Mitrofanovich Levin (1871–1929), Russian chess player
 * Alter Levin (1883–1933), Hebrew writer and poet
 * Andy Levin (born 1960), US Democratic Representative from Michigan; son of Sander and nephew of Carl
 * Arnold Levin, New Yorker cartoonist
 * Bengt Levin (1958–2020), Swedish orienteering competitor
 * Benjamin Levin (born 1988), American record producer and songwriter known professionally as Benny Blanco
 * Bernard Levin, (1928–2004), British writer and broadcaster
 * Beth Levin (linguist), American linguist
 * Beth Levin (musician), American pianist
 * Bobby Levin, American bridge player
 * Burton Levin (1930 – 2016), American diplomat, former Ambassador to Burma
 * Camille Levin (born 1990), American soccer player
 * Carl Levin (1934–2021), US Democratic Senator from Michigan; brother of Sander Levin, cousin of Charles Levin and uncle of Andy Levin
 * Charles Levin (actor) (1949–2019), American actor
 * Charles Levin (judge) (1926–2020), American jurist; cousin of Carl and Sander Levin
 * Corey Levin (born 1994), American football player
 * Daniel Levin (attorney) (active 2004–2005), Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Justice Department
 * Daniel Levin (writer) (born c. 1980), American attorney and novelist
 * David L. Levin (born 1949), American politician from Missouri
 * David Levin (businessman) (born 1962), British businessman
 * David Levin (born 1999), Israeli ice hockey player
 * David Levin (singer), American singer-songwriter
 * David N. Levin (1948–2017), American balloonist
 * David P. Levin (born 1958), American producer, director, writer and editor
 * Diane Levin (born 1947), American author and educator
 * Diane Levin, American author and educator
 * Elinor Levin (born 1987), American politician
 * Eyal Levin (born 1986), Israeli Olympic sailor
 * Ezra G. Levin, American lawyer
 * Fred Levin (1937–2021), American lawyer
 * Gabe Levin (born 1994), American-Israeli basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
 * Gerald M. Levin (born 1939), American businessman with Time Warner
 * Gilbert Levin, American engineer
 * Hanoch Levin (1943–1999), Israeli writer and theater director
 * Harold Levin, American violist, composer, and conductor
 * Harry Levin (1912–1994), American literary critic
 * Harvey Levin, TV and movie producer
 * Hjördis Levin (born 1930), Swedish historian and author
 * Ingeborg Levin, German geoscientist and climatologist
 * Ira Levin (1929–2007), American novelist, playwright and songwriter

J–Z

 * Jack Levin, professor at Northeastern University and sociologist
 * Janice H. Levin (1913–2001), American philanthropist and art collector from New York City
 * Janna Levin, theoretical cosmologist
 * Jennifer Levin (1968–1986), murder victim in New York City's Central Park
 * Jill Levin (born 1961), American bridge player
 * Joe Levin, American lawyer
 * Jon Levin (born 1966), physicist
 * Jonathan Levin, Mexican footballer
 * Jonathan Levin (teacher) (1966–1997), American murder victim
 * Josef Lhévinne (1874–1944), Russian pianist
 * Kenneth Levin (born 1944), American psychiatrist and author
 * Leonid Levin (born 1948), Russian-born computer scientist
 * Lev Levin (1870–1938) Physician, born Odessa, executed during Stalin's purges
 * Lewis Charles Levin (1808–1860), first Jewish Representative to the U.S. Congress
 * Maks Levin (1981–2022), Ukrainian photojournalist killed in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
 * Marc Levin, Jewish American filmmaker
 * Mark Levin (director) (born 1966), American director and screenwriter
 * Mark Levin (born 1957), American conservative radio host, lawyer, author, and political commentator who served in the Reagan administration
 * Meyer Levin (1905–1981), U.S. novelist
 * Michael Levin (philosopher), professor of philosophy at the City University of New York
 * Michael Levin (biologist), professor of biology at Tufts University
 * Michael Graubart Levin (born 1958), American author
 * Mike Levin (born 1978), California Democratic politician
 * Murray Levin (1927–1999), political science professor at Boston University
 * Nathaniel Levin (1818–1903), New Zealand businessman and politician
 * Neil David Levin (1954–2001), former executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey who was killed in the September 11 attacks
 * Nora Levin (1916–1989), American Holocaust historian
 * Petra Levin, American microbiologist
 * Philip J. Levin (c. 1909–1971), American real estate developer and investor
 * Rick Levin (born 1947), American economist, president of Yale University
 * Rob Levin (1955–2006), founder of the freenode IRC network
 * Robert D. Levin (born 1947), U.S. composer and musicologist
 * Robert Levin (Norwegian pianist) (1912–1996), Norwegian pianist and composer
 * Robert Levin (writer) (born 1939), American fiction writer
 * Sander M. Levin (born 1931), US Democratic Representative from Michigan; brother of Carl, cousin of Charles and father of Andy
 * Savannah Levin (born 1995), American soccer player
 * Simon A. Levin, theoretical ecologist, professor of biology at Princeton University
 * Susan Bass Levin, New Jersey, US politician
 * Tatyana Levina (born 1977), Russian sprinter
 * Theodore Levin (1897–1970), U.S. federal jurist
 * Tony Levin (born 1946), U.S. bass player
 * Vladimir Levin (hacker), Russian mathematician and alleged criminal hacker
 * Vladimir Levin (historian), Israeli historian
 * Walter Levin (1924–2017), German-born violinist, founder member of the LaSalle Quartet
 * William Levin (1845–1893), New Zealand businessman and politician
 * Yariv Levin (born 1969), Israeli MK and Deputy Prime Minister
 * Yuval Levin, member of White House domestic policy staff
 * Zara Levina (1906–1976), Ukrainian composer

Fictional characters

 * Kevin Levin, protagonist/antagonist from the television series Ben 10"
 * Konstantin Levin, a protagonist in Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina
 * Patti Levin, character in The Leftovers
 * Jack Levin, a character in the racing video game series F-Zero