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Lefebvre

Lefebvre (; commonly in English-speaking countries, as well as or ) 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.

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. Provided by Wikipedia