Editing Levite (section)

==Levite population==

===Levite Y-chromosome studies===
A 2003 study of the Y-chromosome by Behar et al. pointed to multiple origins for [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi]] Levites, who comprise approximately 4% among the Ashkenazi Jews. It found that [[Haplogroup R1a1a]] (R-M17), uncommon in the Middle East or among [[Sephardic Jews]], is present in over 50% of Ashkenazi Levites, while the rest of Ashkenazi Levites' paternal lineage is of certain Middle Eastern origin, including Y-chromosome haplogroups E3b, J2, F, R1b, K, I, Q, N and L.<ref name="Behar2003"/> Haplogroup R1a1a is found at the highest levels among people of Eastern European descent, with 50 to 65% among [[Sorbs]], [[Polish people|Poles]], [[Russians]], and [[Ukrainians]].<ref>{{cite journal |pmc=2987245 |pmid=19888303 |doi=10.1038/ejhg.2009.194 |volume=18 |issue=4 |title=Separating the post-Glacial coancestry of European and Asian Y chromosomes within haplogroup R1a |year=2010 |journal=Eur. J. Hum. Genet. |pages=479–484 |last1=Underhill |first1=PA |last2=Myres |first2=NM |last3=Rootsi |first3=S |last4=Metspalu |first4=M |last5=Zhivotovsky |first5=LA |last6=King |first6=RJ |last7=Lin |first7=AA |last8=Chow |first8=CE |last9=Semino |first9=O |last10=Battaglia |first10=V |last11=Kutuev |first11=I |last12=Järve |first12=M |last13=Chaubey |first13=G |last14=Ayub |first14=Q |last15=Mohyuddin |first15=A |last16=Mehdi |first16=SQ |last17=Sengupta |first17=S |last18=Rogaev |first18=EI |last19=Khusnutdinova |first19=EK |last20=Pshenichnov |first20=A |last21=Balanovsky |first21=O |last22=Balanovska |first22=E |last23=Jeran |first23=N |last24=Augustin |first24=DH |last25=Baldovic |first25=M |last26=Herrera |first26=RJ |last27=Thangaraj |first27=K |last28=Singh |first28=V |last29=Singh |first29=L |last30=Majumder |first30=P |last31=Rudan |first31=P |last32=Primorac |first32=D |last33=Villems |first33=R |last34=Kivisild |first34=T}}</ref> In [[South Asia]], R1a1a has often been observed with high frequency in a number of demographic groups, reaching over 70% in [[Bengali Brahmin|West Bengal Brahmins]] in India and among the Mohani people in [[Sindh]], Pakistan.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}} Behar's data suggested a founding event, involving an 'introgression' of anywhere from one to fifty non-Jewish European men, occurring at a time close to the initial formation and settlement of the Ashkenazi community as a possible explanation.<ref name="Behar2003">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Behar DM, Thomas MG, Skorecki K, etal |title=Multiple origins of Ashkenazi Levites: Y chromosome evidence for both Near Eastern and European ancestries |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=73 |issue=4 |pages=768–779 |date=October 2003 |pmid=13680527|pmc=1180600 |doi=10.1086/378506}}</ref> As Nebel, Behar and Goldstein speculate:

{{blockquote|although neither the NRY haplogroup composition of the majority of Ashkenazi Jews nor the microsatellite haplotype composition of the R1a1 haplogroup within Ashkenazi Levites is consistent with a major Khazar or other European origin, as has been speculated by some authors (Baron 1957; Dunlop 1967; Ben-Sasson 1976; Keys 1999), one cannot rule out the important contribution of a single or a few founders among contemporary Ashkenazi Levites."<ref name="Goldstein2008">{{Cite book|author=Goldstein, David B. |title=Jacob's legacy: A genetic view of Jewish history |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2008 |pages=location 873 (Kindle for PC) |chapter=3|isbn=978-0-300-12583-2}}</ref>}}

A 2013 paper by Siiri Rootsi et al. confirmed a Near or Middle Eastern origin for all Ashkenazi Levites, including the R1a Y-chromosome carriers, and refuted the [[Khazar hypothesis of Ashkenazi ancestry]]:
{{blockquote|Previous Y-chromosome studies have demonstrated that Ashkenazi Levites, members of a paternally inherited Jewish Levite caste, display a distinctive founder event within R1a, the most prevalent Y-chromosome haplogroup in Eastern Europe. Here we report the analysis of 16 whole R1 sequences and show that a set of 19 unique nucleotide substitutions defines the Ashkenazi R1a lineage. While our survey of one of these, M582, in 2,834 R1a samples reveals its absence in 922 Eastern Europeans, we show it is present in all sampled R1a Ashkenazi Levites, as well as in 33.8% of other R1a Ashkenazi Jewish males and 5.9% of 303 R1a Near Eastern males, where it shows considerably higher diversity. Moreover, the M582 lineage also occurs at low frequencies in non-Ashkenazi Jewish populations. In contrast to the previously suggested Eastern European origin for Ashkenazi Levites, the current data are indicative of a geographic source of the Levite founder lineage in the Near East and its likely presence among pre-Diaspora Hebrews.<ref name="natu_Phyl">{{Cite journal| title = Phylogenetic applications of whole Y-chromosome sequences and the Near Eastern origin of Ashkenazi Levites |display-authors=4|author1=Siiri Rootsi|author2=Doron M. Behar|author3=Mari Järve|author4=Alice A. Lin|author5=Natalie M. Myres|author6=Ben Passarelli|author7=G. David Poznik|author8=Shay Tzur|author9=Hovhannes Sahakyan|author10=Ajai Kumar Pathak|author11=Saharon Rosset|author12=Mait Metspalu|author13=Viola Grugni|author14=Ornella Semino|author15=Ene Metspalu|author16=Carlos D. Bustamante|author17=Karl Skorecki|author18=Richard Villems|author19=Toomas Kivisild|author20=Peter A. Underhill |journal=Nature Communications |volume=4 |pages=2928 |date=2013 |doi=10.1038/ncomms3928 |pmid=24346185 |pmc=3905698 |bibcode=2013NatCo...4.2928R}}</ref>}}

In a later 2017 study Behar et al. revised their initially mitigated position, concluding that a "Middle Eastern origin of the Ashkenazi Levite lineage based on what was previously a relatively limited number of reported samples, can now be considered firmly validated", precising that a "rich variation of haplogroup R1a outside of Europe which is phylogenetically separate from the typically European R1a branches", referring to the R1a-Y2619 sub-clade.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

===Lineage===
Having a last name of Levi or a related term does not necessarily mean a person is a Levite, and many well-known Levites do not have such last names.<ref>Some examples of having the title HaLevi, but not in their last name are: [[Baruch Epstein]], [[Yisroel Belsky]], [[Abraham Fraenkel]], [[Shmuel Wosner]], [[Meir Abulafia]], [[Samuel ibn Naghrillah]], [[Yehuda Ashlag]], [[Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik]], [[Pinchas Horowitz]], [[Hillel Paritcher]], [[Yaakov Yitzchak of Lublin|The Chozeh (seer) of Lublin]], [[Shmuel Schecter]], [[Joseph Weiler]], [[Yom-Tov Lipman Heller]], [[Abraham ibn Daud]], [[Salomon ibn Parhon]], [[Shlomo Wahrman]], [[Salomon Alkabetz]], [[Issachar Berend Lehmann]], [[Avraham Bromberg]], [[Max Letteris]], [[Joseph ibn Migash]], [[Yechezkel Landau]], [[Jacob Moelin]], [[Luis de Torres]], [[Chaim Herzog]],
[[Avraham Gombiner]]</ref>

Levitical status is passed down in families from father{{efn|The child of a Bat Levi [daughter of a Levi] has no Levi status.}} to child born from a Jewish mother, as part of a family's genealogical tradition. Tribal status of Levite is determined by [[patrilineal descent]], so a child whose biological father is a Levite (in cases of adoption or artificial insemination, status is determined by the genetic father), is also considered a Levite. Jewish status is determined by matrilineal descent, thus conferring levitical status onto children requires both biological parents to be Israelites and the biological father to be a Levite.

Accordingly, there is currently no branch of Judaism that regards levitical status as conferrable by matrilineal descent. It is either conferrable patrilineally with a Jewish mother, in the traditional manner, or it does not exist and is not conferred at all.

===Levite surnames===
Some Levites have adopted a related last name to signify their status. Because of diverse geographical locations, the names have several variations:<ref name=Lev.WP>{{cite web
|title=What's in a name?
|date=18 October 2014|url=https://inmuchness.wordpress.com/2014/10/18/whats-in-a-name|quote=Levi not only has variations like Lewita (Polish) and Loewe (German/Swiss), but also Segal and Zemmel. They sound nothing like the original name, and that’s because they’re acronyms in the Hebrew alphabet – a great way to hide your Jewish heritage while keeping true to the family identity. Segal stands for 'SeGan Leviyyah', which is roughly translated as 'deputy Levite', since Levites served as deputies to kohanim. Segal itself has variations too, like Chagall (French).}}</ref>
* ''Alouwi'' – Arabic variant, of Sephardic origin
* ''Aguiló'' – surname to the Jews from Mallorca ([[Xueta|Xuetes]])
* ''Bazes'' – a Levite surname.
* ''[[Benveniste]]'' – a Sephardic Levite surname.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.geni.com/people/Don-Judah-de-la-Cavaller%25C3%25ADa-ha-Levi/6000000001500854394 |title=Don Judah de la Cavalleria Ha Levi (Benveniste "Cavalier") (c. 1227 – 1286)|date=2 February 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=BENVENISTE |website=JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3011-benveniste |quote=Joseph ben Ephraim ha-Levi Benveniste}}</ref>
* ''[[Epstein]]'' – one of the European lineages descended from [[Zerachiah ha-Levi of Girona|Zerahiah Ha-Levi]] of Sepharad
* ''HaLevi'', ''[[Halevi]]'' and ''Halevy'' – Hebrew, meaning 'the Levi' or 'the Levite'
* ''[[Horowitz]] HaLevi'', or simply ''Horowitz/Hurwitz/Gurvich/Gurevich'' – a European Levite surname, tracing to Isaiah Horowitz HaLevi, a descendant of [[Zerachiah ha-Levi of Girona|Zerahiah Ha-Levi]] of Sepharad
* ''Lavi'' – a common Levite surname
* ''Leefsma'' – Frisian surname
* ''Leevi'' – Finnish variation
* ''Lev'' – simplified Russian variation of ''Levi''
* ''Levai'', ''Lévai'' and ''Lévay'' – a Levitic surname, originally meaning "a person from ''[[Levice]]''" but subsequently used by [[Jews]] who were forced to change their name during the [[Holocaust]]
* ''Leven'' – Swedish variation
* ''Levente'' – Hungarian variation
* ''[[Levi (surname)|Lévi, Levi]]'', ''[[Levy (surname)|Lévy or Levy]]'' – Hebrew for "Levite", equally common in Ashkenasic and Sephardic groups
* ''Levian/Livian/Benlevi/Liviem'' – Persian-Jewish variations
* ''Lević'', also ''Levinić'', ''[[Luciano Moše Prelević|Prelević]]'' – Croatian or Serbian variations
* ''[[Levin (surname)|Levin]]'' – [[Russia]]n variation, also ''[[Levine]]'', ''Lavin'' or ''Lavine'' ({{IPAc-en|l|ə|ˈ|v|iː|n}}, rhyming with "ravine", or in some cases further anglicised to {{IPAc-en|l|ɪ|ˈ|v|aɪ|n}}, rhyming with "divine") and ''[[Lewin (name)|Lewin]]'' a Polish variation. Sometimes supplemented with German "thal" (valley) to ''Levinthal'' or ''Leventhal'' and -sohn and -son to ''Levinson'' or ''Levinsohn'' as a patronymic, and with Slavic -ski and -sky suffixes ''Levinski'', ''Levinsky'', ''Lewinski'' and ''Lewinsky'' (the "e" often replaced with "a" in German areas).
* ''Levit'', also ''Levitt'' – typically from the Bessarabia region of Romania, Moldova and southern Ukraine
* ''Levita'' – [[Elia Levita]], an ancestor of [[David Cameron]]
* ''Levits'' – the surname in Latvia (adding the ''s for men or a for women''), president of Latvia Egils Levits.
* ''Leviyev'' – the Russified surname (adding the ''yev/ev'') that many [[Bukharian Jews]] of Central Asia have. Sometimes spelled ''Leviev'' or even ''Levaev''.
* ''Lewi'' or ''Lewj'' (Polish, ''Levi'' and ''Levy'')
* ''Lewicki'' – Polish "of the Levites", also ''Lewicka'', ''Lewycka'', ''Lewycki'', ''Lewycky'', ''Lewicky'', ''Levicki'', ''Levicky'' (can also originate from placenames in Poland)
* ''Lewita'' – Polish ''Levite'' or ''Levita'' Latinized, with Slavic suffix -an/in ''Lewitan'', ''Levitan'', ''Levitin'', ''Lewitin'', ''Lewitinn'', and with additional suffix -ski/sky ''Levitanski'', ''Lewitanski'', ''Levitansky'', also ''Lewitas'', ''Levitas'',  Lithuanian, Belarusian, ''Leyva'' Spanish Sephardic, also but rare ''Lefite, Lafite, Lafitte'', of French Sephardic origin.<ref name=Lev.WP/>
* Variants from [[Yiddish]] ''Leyvik'', a pet form of Leyvi: ''Levitch'' Ukrainian variant,  also ''Levicz'', ''Levis'', ''Levitz'', ''Lewicz'', ''Lewitz'', ''Lewis'', and with -ski and -sky suffixes ''Leviczky'', ''Levitski'', ''Levitsky'', ''Lewitski'' and ''Lewitsky'' ("e" and "s" often replaced with "a" and "z" in German areas)
* ''Loewy'', ''Löwi'', ''Löwy'' and ''Loewe'' German or Swiss variations (although the usual origin for these names is Löwe, the [[German language|German]] word for "[[lion]]").<ref name=Lev.WP/>
*Moss (Hebrew for Moses) (Descendant of Moses God's most important prophet according to the torah) also ancient Gaelic for Devotee, which Moses was a Levite devoted to his mission to free the Hebrew.
* ''Segal'' – shortened "Segen Levi" (secondary Levite)
* ''Urfali'' or ''Levi Urfali'' (also ''Levi Abud'', ''Levi Aslan'', ''Levi Hamami'') – an [[Urfalim]] community surname, which was mostly Levite in origin
* ''Zemmel'' – shortened "Zecher mi-Shevet Levi" (descendant of the Levite tribe)

====Modern Levites====
The following are some Levites with non-Levite-like last names in modern times:
* [[Frank Gehry]]<ref>PBS Show ''[[Finding Your Roots]]'' broadcast February 2, 2016</ref>
* [[Chaim Herzog]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/State/Chaim+Herzog.htm |title=Chaim Herzog |quote=The son of the Chief Rabbi of Ireland, Rabbi Isaac Halevi Herzog}}</ref>
* [[Norman Lear]]<ref>PBS Show ''[[Finding Your Roots]]'' broadcast January 26, 2016</ref>