Lefebvre

Lefebvre (French: [ləfɛvʁ] ⓘ; commonly /ləˈfiːvər/ in English-speaking countries, as well as /ləˈfeɪv/ or /ləˈfɛv/) is a common northern French surname. Alternative forms include Lefebvre, le Febvre, Le Febvre, Lefèbvre, le Fèbvre, Le Fèbvre, as well as the common variant Lefèvre (le Fèvre, Le Fèvre; anglicized Lefevre, le Fevre, Le Fevre, LeFevre, LeFever). Dialectal variants include Lefevere (Belgium), Lefebre, Lefeuvre (western France), and Lefébure (northern France and Normandy).

The name derives from faber, the Latin word for "craftsman", "worker"; used in Late Latin in Gaul to mean smith. In the Occitan and Arpitan extension area, the variation is Fabre, Favre, Faure, Favret, Favrette or Dufaure and in Corsica Fabri (cf. Italian Fabbri, Fabri). In Celtic-speaking Brittany, the corresponding name is Le Goff(ic), with the article le to translate Breton ar. Many northern French surnames (especially in Normandy) are used with the definite masculine article as a prefix (Lefebvre, Lefèvre; a more archaic spelling is Le Febvre), with the contracted masculine article as a prefix (Dufaure) in the south of France, or without article/prefix (Favre, Faure) in the south of France, but the meaning is the same.[1]

For Anglophone purposes, the name has evolved, especially in the United States and Anglophone regions of Canada—mainly by Acadians, among whom it is also a common surname, yielding not only Lefevre and LeFever, but also Lafevre, Lafever, Lefavre, LeFave, LaFave, as well as other variant spellings. The English surname Feaver is also derived from Lefebvre.

People

Lefebvre and variations

Lefebvre

  • Alain Lefebvre (born 1947), French journalist
  • Arlette Lefebvre (born 1947), Canadian child psychologist
  • Arthur H. Lefebvre (1923–2003), research engineer and scientist
  • Benny Lefebvre (1912–1994), American athlete and sports coach
  • Bernard Lefebvre (1929-1999), Canadian surgeon and director of Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons
  • Bill Lefebvre (1915–2007), American baseball player, coach, and scout
  • Camille Lefebvre (1831–1895), French Catholic missionary
  • Catherine Lefebvre (curler) (born 1959), French curler
  • Charles-Édouard Lefebvre (1843–1917), French composer
  • Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes (or Lefèbvre-Desnoëttes; 1773–1822), French peer and general
  • Claude Lefebvre (artist) (1633–1675), French painter and engraver
  • Claude Lefebvre (handballer) (born 1952), former Canadian handball player who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics
  • Claude Lefebvre (ice hockey) (born 1964), Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • Elsie Lefebvre (born 1979), Canadian politician from Quebec
  • Émile Lefebvre, French playwright
  • Éric Lefebvre (born 1971), Canadian politician from Quebec
  • Eugène Lefebvre (1878–1909), French aviator, second person to be killed in an airplane crash
  • François Joseph Lefebvre (1755–1820), French marshal during Napoleonic Wars, Duke of Gdańsk
  • Frédéric Lefebvre (born 1963), French politician
  • Georges Lefebvre (1874–1959), French historian
  • Germaine Lefebvre (1933–1990), French actress professionally known as Capucine
  • Guillaume Lefebvre (born 1981), Canadian ice hockey player
  • Gustave Lefebvre (1879–1957), French Egyptologist
  • Henri Lefebvre (1901–1991), French philosopher, sociologist, and intellectual
  • Jean Lefebvre (1922–2004), French actor
  • Jean Baptiste Lefebvre de Villebrune (1732-1809), French physician, philologist, and translator
  • Jim Lefebvre (born 1942), American baseball player
  • Joe Lefebvre (born 1956), American baseball player
  • Jules Joseph Lefebvre (1836–1911), French painter
  • Kristine Lefebvre, American lawyer and contestant on The Apprentice
  • Louise-Rosalie Lefebvre (1751–1821), French actress, dancer, and singer
  • Ludo Lefebvre (born 1971), French chef
  • Loïc Lefebvre (born 1976), French chef
  • Marcel Lefebvre (1905–1991), French Catholic archbishop
  • René Lefebvre (1879–1944), French factory owner, active in the Resistance, father of Marcel
  • Roland Lefebvre (born 1963), Dutch cricket player
  • Sébastien Lefebvre, French-Canadian musician
  • Ségolène Lefebvre (born 1993), French boxer
  • Stéphane Lefebvre (born 1992), French rally driver
  • Sylvain Lefebvre (born 1967), Canadian ice hockey player
  • Tim Lefebvre (born 1968), American musician
  • Vladimir Lefebvre, American mathematician

Lefèbvre

Le Febvre

Lefèvre and variations

Lefèvre

Le Fèvre / le Fèvre

  • André le Fèvre, Dutch footballer at the 1924 Summer Olympics
  • Anne Dacier (née Le Fèvre; 1654–1720), French scholar and translator of the classics
  • Jacques Guarrigue-Lefèvre (born 1961), founder, owner and current president of Paris Élysée private club
  • Jacques Le Fèvre (mid c. 17th–1716), French Roman Catholic theologian and controversialist
  • Jean Le Fèvre (astronomer) (1652–1706), French astronomer and physicist
  • Julia Marton-Lefèvre (born 1946), French conservationist
  • Nicaise le Fèvre (also known as Nicasius le Febure; 1615–1669), French chemist and alchemist
  • Tanneguy Le Fèvre (also known as Tanaquillus Faber; 1615–1672), French classical scholar

Lefevre

LeFevre

Le Fevre / le Fevre

Lefever and variations

Lefever

LeFever

Lafever

Other variations

Lafave

  • Arthur J. Lafave, American founder of Lafave Newspaper Features
  • Debra Lafave (b. 1980), American convicted sex offender
  • Robert Lafave (b. 1927), American, WWII Veteran, Home Builder

LaFave

La Fave

Lafevre

  • John A. Lafevre (1746–1818), American descendant of the New Paltz Huguenots

Le Fave

Le Favre

Lefebre

Lefébure

Le Febure

Lefèrve

LeFeuvere

  • LeFeuvere, surname as known for two - or more - generations in Canada. (Original spelling likely Lefebvre but uncertain at the time of this writing). Only known surviving son at this time: Mark LeFeuvere.

Lefeuvre

LeFeuvre

Lefevere

As a given name

Other uses

See also

References

  1. ^ Albert Dauzat, Jean Dubois, Henri Mitterand, Noms et prénoms de France, Larousse 1981. New full-filled edition by Marie-Thérèse Morlet.
Surname list
This page lists people with the surname Lefebvre.
If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.
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Surnames associated with the occupation of smith
Celtic
Germanic
Romance
SemiticSlavicOther
From "spark"
rel. to occ. 'smith'