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Surname Etymology and Meaning of LEAF

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Name meanings and etymologies are often disputed. The information here is compiled from freely available sources, and no claims whatsoever are made for accuracy, either historical or etymological.

1. English: from the Old English personal names Leofa (masculine) and Leofe (feminine) ‘dear’, ‘beloved’. These names were in part short forms of various compound names with this first element, in part independent affectionate bynames.
2. English: apparently a topographic name for someone who lived in a densely foliated area, from Middle English leaf ‘leaf’; a certain Robert Intheleaves is recorded in London in the 14th century.
3. Americanized form of Swedish Lö(ö)f, Löv, an ornamental name from löv ‘leaf’.
4. English translation of the Ashkenazic Jewish ornamental surname Blatt.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names (2003)