Leventis (Λεβέντης) is a Greek word for describing a brave man, derived from the Greek name for the Levant. 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:
From Italian levanti ‘Levantine’, ‘people from the East’, i.e. the eastern Mediterranean, also in Greek the term has connotations of fearlessness and gallantry. It is also a reduced form of surnames with Levento- as a prefix, e.g. Leventogiannis ‘John the gallant’.
— Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
Alternatively, it may originate from the Turkish word Levend.
Here is a partial list of people named Leventis or Levendis:
- Anastasios George Leventis (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.
- Andrew G. Leventis (born 1980), American painter and professor
- Phil P. Leventis (born 1945), American politician
- Vassilis Leventis (born 1951), Greek politician
- George Levendis, TV and music industry executive
In Harlan Ellison‘s short story The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore, each of the vignettes that comprise the story are preceded by “LEVENDIS”:
The Nigerian football team Leventis United is named after the A. G. Leventis foundation created by Anastasios G. Leventis.
Leventikos : fearlessly, bravely
Leventikos (Greek: Λεβέντικος, Levéntikos); or Bufčansko (Macedonian: Буфчанско), also known as Litós (Λιτός), Kucano, Nešo or Pusteno, is a dance of western Macedonia, mainly performed by ethnic Macedonians and Greeks in the town of Florina, Greece and in the Resen and Bitola regions in the neighbouring North Macedonia.
Leventoğenia: brave generation
Leventoğena: mother of the brave
Leventoğeros: Old Boy
In “Our Mediterranean”
Levent, Levantino,
Levante, Leventis,
Leventopoulos, Leventakis
lands of the Levant,
Levantines
Kalyonan Levendats
Levend’ler
“Bizim Akdeniz”de
Levent, Levantino,
Levante, Leventis,
Leventopulos, Leventakis
Levant diyarları,
Levanten’ler
Kalyoncu Levendat’ları
Levend is a basic concept that came to life in the Mediterranean coasts; Italy (Levantino), Spain (Levante), Greece (Leventis, Leventopulos), Eastern Mediterranean (Levant countries), in Turkey (Levent, Levantine) dictionary is a word Mediterranean enriched with different meanings.
LEVENDNÂME Poems, on the other hand, are like all the waves originating from the Mediterranean, moving and accelerating, like the Great Wall of China, Hong Kong, India, Egypt, Italy, Greece, Africa, Afrin, Afghanistan, Pacific, Rumelia, Varna, Vidin, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Baku, Kaz Mountains, Archipelago, Rome, Troy, Nea Roma, Istanbul, Çanakkale, Ida, Assos, Antandros, Ionia, Anatolya, Agonya, Archipel, Aegean, Lesbos, Bolayır, Asia Minor, Saruhan provinces.
The interaction of the Mediterranean, which has fused civilizations since ancient times, shows a character of Levend and increases the new Mediterranean and the Levels of the new Mediterranean. The interaction between Pacific ports is now a typical Mediterranean attitude. Cultures and Civilizations bring out new Mediterranean seasons in the east of the Levant’s borders, in the oases of Turkistan and on the Pacific rim.
According to the verses of Nazım;
Come gallop from Far Asia
Stretching like a mare’s head to the Mediterranean
This Country; Is ours.
Not only this country, but also the Mediterranean is ours. Its civilizations, cuisine, bazaars, markets, internalized by the power of the Captain-Derya and Levent; Beyoğlu is on its way to new destinations along the Black Sea-Mediterranean, Oğuzhan and Kızılelma avenues in Pera, Algeria Dead End, Tunisian Mahmutpaşa Street, Maltese Fâtih, Eminönü Spice Bazaar, Istanbul Suriçi.
The Turks, who carried the words sea, lake, river, ship, talay, which they added to their language in Asia since the ancestors of Hun, Göktürk, Oğuz, in their abandonment and face the sea again after hundreds of years on the shores of Mediterranean Alanya, this time, a new Mediterranean in the Pacific on the shores of Talay (Ocean) They will be at the forefront of the creation of the company with their entrepreneur and thinker Levent.
LEVENDNÂME Poems take us on a stroll along the shores of our Great Mediterranean Civilization.
LEVENDNÂME While watching the vast geographies that we have not disappeared, we said let’s take a look at the continents, countries and regions when we set off with Poems; We came across a very wealthy list.
Despite the concept of Levantine which refers to the Eastern Mediterranean, the Levend’s concept associated with the Great Mediterranean concept appeared to be in an inclusion that includes the accumulations of around fifty countries and regions in four continents.