Leveson is a surname. The name as printed can represent two quite different etymologies and pronunciations: #A Leveson family who were

Merchants of the Staple The Company of Merchants of the Staple of England, the Merchants of the Staple, also known as the Merchant Staplers, is an English company incorporated by Royal Charter in 1319 (and so the oldest mercantile corporation in England) dealing in wool, ...

became very influential in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

in the late Middle Ages, supplying both lay support and clergy to

St Peter's Collegiate Church St Peter's Collegiate Church is located in central Wolverhampton, England. For many centuries it was a chapel royal and from 1480 a royal peculiar, independent of the Diocese of Lichfield and even the Province of Canterbury. The collegiate chur ...

. They were the ancestors of a number of important

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, th ...

and

peers Peers may refer to: People * Donald Peers * Edgar Allison Peers, English academician * Gavin Peers * John Peers, Australian tennis player * Kerry Peers * Mark Peers * Michael Peers * Steve Peers * Teddy Peers (1886–1935), Welsh international ...

, in various branches, including the

Leveson-Gower Leveson-Gower ( ), also Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, is the name of a powerful British noble family. Over time, several members of the Leveson-Gower family were made knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the family include the duke ...

s. Their name could be rendered in numerous ways in the early modern period: Levison, Leweson, and Luson are all common. To modern readers, the latter represents the pronunciation most accurately. An example of its use is a letter to Robert Cecil, dated 5 August 1602, which reports that "eight of the galleys which fought with Sir Richard Luson were repaired."Cecil Papers in Hatfield House, 1-10 August 1602.
/ref> Leveson is an example of an English surname with counterintuitive pronunciation. The generally accepted pronunciation is . It is a

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

from Louis or Lewis. #Leveson can also be a

from the Hebrew name

Levi Levi (; ) was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's third son), and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Levi (the Levites, including the Kohanim) and the great-grandfather of Aaron, Moses and M ...

, and so is most found among

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

families. This is generally pronounced as .

Notable people called Leveson

* Sir Walter Leveson (d.1602), Shropshire and Staffordshire landowner and MP * Sir Richard Leveson (c.1570 – 2 August 1605), MP for Shropshire, fought in the Armada campaign *

Sir John Leveson Sir John Leveson (21 March 1555 – 14 November 1615) was an English politician. He was instrumental in putting down the Essex rebellion of 8 February 1601. Family John Leveson, born 21 March 1555 at Whornes Place, Cuxton, Kent, was the eldest ...

(d.1613) *

(21 March 1555 – 14 November 1615) * William Leveson, (d.1621) * Richard Leveson (1598–1661), English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1642 and was a prominent royalist in the English Civil War. *

Arthur Leveson Admiral Sir Arthur Cavenagh Leveson GCB (27 January 1868 – 26 June 1929) was a senior officer in the Royal Navy. He was the Rear Admiral Commanding His Majesty's Australian Fleet from 9 January 1917 to 3 September 1918 and later Commander in C ...

GCB (1868–1929), senior officer in the Royal Navy *

Brian Leveson Sir Brian Henry Leveson (; born 22 June 1949) is a retired English judge who served as the President of the Queen's Bench Division and Head of Criminal Justice. Leveson chaired the public inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the ...

QC, (born 1949), English judge in the Court of Appeal and head of the Sentencing Council for England and Wales **

Leveson Inquiry The Leveson Inquiry was a judicial public inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press following the News International phone hacking scandal, chaired by Lord Justice Leveson, who was appointed in July 2011. A series of ...

into the British press following the ''News International'' phone hacking scandal *

Nancy Leveson Nancy G. Leveson is an American specialist in system and software safety and a Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, United States. Leveson gained her degrees (in computer science, mathematics and management) from UCLA, including he ...

, leading American expert in system and software safety

References

{{surname Patronymic surnames Jewish surnames Yiddish-language surnames

Notable people called Leveson

See also

References