Find out how popular the last name Lefèvre is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Lefèvre.

Lefèvre, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Lefèvre surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lefèvre in America

Lefèvre is the 6245th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lefèvre surname appeared 5,472 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Lefèvre.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lefèvre to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Lefèvre

The surname LEFEVRE originated in France and is derived from the Old French words "le" meaning "the" and "fevre" meaning "blacksmith" or "smith". It was an occupational surname given to people who worked as blacksmiths or metalworkers.

This name was first recorded in the early Middle Ages, around the 12th century, when surnames began to be adopted in France. It was particularly common in the northern regions of France, including Normandy, Picardy, and Île-de-France.

One of the earliest known references to the surname LEFEVRE can be found in the Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Bertin, a collection of medieval charters and records from the Abbey of Saint-Bertin in Saint-Omer, France, dating back to the 9th century.

In the 13th century, a man named Nicolas LEFEVRE was mentioned in the records of the city of Amiens, in northern France. Another notable early bearer of this name was Jean LEFEVRE, a 14th-century French theologian and author from the town of Ressons, near Paris.

During the Middle Ages, the surname LEFEVRE was sometimes spelled slightly differently, such as LEFEBVRE or LEFÈVRE, reflecting regional variations in pronunciation and spelling conventions.

One of the most famous individuals with this surname was Jacques LEFEVRE d'Étaples (c. 1455-1536), a French scholar, theologian, and humanist who played a significant role in the early stages of the Protestant Reformation in France.

Another notable figure was Nicolas LEFEVRE (1544-1612), a French mathematician and astronomer who made important contributions to the development of trigonometry and the calculation of logarithms.

In the 17th century, Nicolas LEFEVRE (1610-1669) was a French Jesuit missionary and explorer who traveled to Canada and helped establish Catholic missions among the indigenous populations.

During the 18th century, Pierre LEFEVRE (1708-1788) was a French architect and urban planner who designed several prominent buildings in Paris and other cities.

In the 19th century, Adolphe LEFEVRE (1835-1904) was a French painter and illustrator known for his depictions of military scenes and historical events.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lefèvre

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Lefèvre.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Lefèvre was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Lefèvre has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Lefèvre was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Lefèvre, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!