Does anyone know the origins of this surname?

Question

The name is Lively. can anyone tell me the meaning? no dictionary definitions please, i'm aware that it's also an english word, but i want to know the original version and/or meaning of it, and the linguistics behind it.

again, i am not asking for a definition of the word lively...but want to know the origins of Lively (with a capital L, not just a word but a name).

ps: is this name funny to you?

Answer 1

Search on something like 'last names lively'. I found these two on the first page.
http://names.whitepages.com/Rhode_Island/last/Lively
https://www.familytreedna.com/surname_join.aspx?code=F35321&special=True&projecttype=S

Try adding 'genealogy' to the search string as well.
http://www.dmoz.org/Society/Genealogy/Surnames/L/Lively/

You're not likely to find accurate info unless you follow the genealogy backwards. The answer above says it originates in Italy, but then lists names that look like English, Dutch and German. Think carefully before you start though, many people find it quite addictive. ;-)

Answer 2

A surname, sometimes called a final title or household title, is a constant title shared in typical with the contributors of a household and is handed down from new release to new release. The use of a surname is fairly new in historical past and used to be followed to be able to legally distinguish 2 participants with the identical first title. At first, those final names weren't handed right down to the following new release. The Chinese have been some of the first actual cultures to undertake using hereditary surnames approximately 5000 years in the past. In Europe, surnames were not used till the tenth or eleventh centuries AD in Venice. Gradually in the course of Europe, all the Aristocracy and gentry followed surnames till ultimately surnames have been utilized by all Europeans of all categories.

Answer 3

Origins of surnames are often a descriptive added to differentiate one "John" from another. So often they were trade names like "Smith", "Goldsmith", etc; place names like "York" or "Lincoln"; or son names like "Johnson".

In this case "Lively" could be descriptive in "oh that's Joe Lively, the other Joe is a smith." Or Lively could refer to a place in the UK. Sorry I'm terrible with geography.

Answer 4

Italian: Spelling variations of this family name include: Lively, Livelli, Livelly, Leuvelin, Leuveling, Leubfling, Leuven, Leivelli, Leifelly, Lievely, Leuvel and many more. First found in Padua a city of northern Italian on the River Bacchiglione, anciently known as Patavium, and then Padova. Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Matthew Lively, who arrived in Virginia in 1734; Elsi Van Leuvel, who came to Philadelphia in 1795; H. Lively, who came to New York, NY in 1821; Gert Leiveling, who came to Cincinnati in 1843.

French: Lively, L'Ively and many more. First found in Picardy, where the family has been a prominent family for centuries, and were seated with lands and manor. Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: including many of the name who migrated to the New World from the mid 17th century onward.

Answer 5

It's probably English.
See
http://www.spatial-literacy.org/UCLnames/Statistics.aspx?name=LIVELY&year=1998&altyear=1881&country=GB&type=name
Don't buy into anything House of Names says - that website is full of it.
Based on the distribution, it's probabaly either from a descriptive nickname or based on a place name and it probably originated somewhere around Warwickshire.