Variant of Levi, from Hebrew לֵוִי meaning 'joined' or 'attached,' borne by the third son of Jacob in the Bible.
Lewi is a streamlined, archaic-feeling spelling of Levi, one of the most ancient names in continuous use in the Western world. The name comes from the Hebrew לֵוִי (Lewi), traditionally interpreted as meaning "joined" or "attached," a reference to the biblical account in Genesis where Leah names her third son Levi expressing hope that her husband Jacob would now be bound more closely to her. Levi became the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the tribe of Levi — the Levites — held a sacred priestly role in Israelite religious life, responsible for the care of the Tabernacle and the Temple.
The spelling Lewi actually predates the more familiar Levi in many historical European Jewish communities, appearing in German and Dutch records as the vernacular rendering of the Hebrew name. It was also the spelling used by Lewis Carroll's family: Carroll's real surname was Dodgson, but his pen name drew on the Anglicization of this very root. The shortened form Lewi has a clean, confident modernity to it — it reads as both genuinely old and strikingly current, the kind of name that feels as comfortable in a first-century synagogue as on a twenty-first century playground.
In contemporary naming culture, Levi has surged into the top 20 in the United States, carried by both religious families honoring its biblical lineage and secular parents drawn to its accessible, friendly sound. Lewi offers the same warmth with a slightly more distinctive profile — one syllable, strong and open, with a spelling that quietly signals historical depth.