Possibly a diminutive of Séverine (Latin, 'strict/severe') or inspired by the Spanish city Sevilla.
Sevi draws from a confluence of linguistic traditions that gives it unusual depth for such a brief name. In Hebrew, it connects to the root tzvi — meaning deer or gazelle — a biblical image of grace and swiftness celebrated across the Psalms and the Song of Songs. The name Tzvi (and its many transliterations) has been carried by rabbinical scholars and ordinary families alike for centuries, most famously by the seventeenth-century mystic Sabbatai Zevi, whose messianic movement captivated Jewish communities across three continents before his controversial conversion.
Sevi is a gentle softening of that lineage. In Turkish, sevi derives directly from sevmek — to love — making it a name that means something like "beloved" or "love itself." This is the form most common in Anatolia and among Turkish-speaking communities in the Balkans, where it functions as a tender given name for girls.
The overlap between the Hebrew and Turkish roots — despite those languages sharing no common ancestor — is one of those etymological coincidences that makes naming history so surprising. As it enters English-speaking naming culture, Sevi benefits from being easily pronounceable (SEH-vee), gender-flexible, and softly melodic. It fits naturally alongside names like Levi, Remi, and Cali — short, vowel-ending names with a relaxed confidence. The name carries an innate warmth: whichever root a family leans toward, the associations are of swiftness, grace, and love.