Leventis (Λεβέντης) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

word for describing a brave man, derived from the Greek name for the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

. Because ''nt'' is pronounced /nd/ in Greek, the name is sometimes spelled ''Levendis''. The etymology of Leventis is given in the Oxford Dictionary of American Family Names: Alternatively, it may originate from the Turkish word

Levend Levend or levendi (Arabic ''lawend'') was a name for irregular soldiers. The term originated with the Ottoman Navy, but eventually spread to encompass most irregular troops. The origin of the term is probably from Italian ''levanti'', and was u ...

Contemporary Meaning

In contemporary Greek, "levendis" means a handsome and gallant male.

People

{{surname Here is a partial list of people named Leventis or Levendis: *

Anastasios George Leventis Anastasios George Leventis (; December 1902 – October 25, 1978) was a Greek Cypriot businessman who founded a major merchandise trading firm, A.G. Leventis (Nigeria) Plc, in West Africa. A dominant figure in the economy of many West African co ...

(1902-1978), Greek-Cypriot businessman and dominant figure in the economy of many West African countries and especially Nigeria. Held the title of Babalaje of

Egbaland The Egba people are a subgroup of the Yoruba people, an ethnic group of western Nigeria, a majority of whom are from the central part of Ogun State, that is Ogun Central Senatorial District. Ogun Central Senatorial District comprises six local ...

. * Andrew G. Leventis (born 1980), American painter and professor * Phil P. Leventis (born 1945), American politician *

Vassilis Leventis Vasileios "Vasilis" Leventis (, ; born 2 November 1951) is a Greek politician, leader of the Greek centrist party Union of Centrists () since 1992, and a Member of Parliament from 2015 to 2019. Early life Vassilis Leventis is the fourth child o ...

(born 1951), Greek politician * George Levendis, TV and music industry executive In

Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave science fiction, New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. His published wo ...

's short story The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore, each of the vignettes that comprise the story are preceded by "LEVENDIS":

Sports

The Nigerian football team Leventis United is named after the A. G. Leventis foundation created by Anastasios G. Leventis. Greek-language surnames Surnames