Leventis

Leventis (Λεβέντης) is a Greek surname, derived from the Greek name for the Levant and thus likely related to the Turkish given name Levent. 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, in particular armed sailors or pirates during the Middle Ages. In Italian the word took on a negative connotation and came to mean ‘pirate’ and hence ‘undisciplined youth’, but in Greek the term has positive 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

People

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

• Anastasios George Leventis, businessman
• Phil P. Leventis, American politician
• Vassilis Leventis, Greek politician
• George Levendis, TV and music industry executive

The Nigerian football team Leventis United is named after the A. G. Leventis foundation created by Anastasios G. Leventis.

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