LEV

Lev is a masculine given name used in various languages, notably Russian, Ukrainian, and Hebrew. In Hebrew, lev (לב) means “heart” and the name is used as a standalone given name in modern Israel. In Slavic languages, Lev is a distinct name often associated with the word for “lion” and is common in Russia and surrounding regions. The name is sometimes used as a short form or root for other names in different contexts.

Notable people named Lev include Lev Tolstoy (Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy), the 19th‑century Russian novelist; Lev Landau, Soviet physicist and Nobel laureate in 1962; Lev Yashin, Soviet football goalkeeper regarded as one of the greatest of all time; Lev Vygotsky, psychologist and founder of cultural-historical psychology; and Lev Grossman, American novelist and journalist.

Lev is also the name of Bulgaria’s currency. Introduced in 1881, the lev is subdivided into 100 stotinki. The currency code is BGN. In 1999, Bulgaria redenominated the currency, replacing 1,000 old leva with 1 new lev. Since that redenomination, the exchange rate has been effectively fixed to the euro at 1 euro = 1.95583 leva, a rate that remains in use as Bulgaria moves toward full euro adoption in the future.

In addition to these uses, the root lev meaning “lion” appears in several Slavonic languages and features in heraldry and culture, reinforcing the linguistic connections between the name, the currency, and related terms.