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Scottish English and French: from the personal name Middle English Lyon Old French Leon (from Latin leo ‘lion’ or the cognate Greek leōn; see Leon ). Compare Lyall . Scottish and English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Lyons-la-Forêt in Eure Normandy. It is unlikely to be from the better-known southern French city of Lyon (see 5 below). English and French: nickname from Middle English lioun ‘lion’ (Old English Latin leo) Old French leon perhaps applied to a brave fierce or proud person or one with a shaggy mane of hair. Compare Lion . Irish: shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Laighin (see Lane ). French: habitational name from the city of Lyon in south central France (or in some cases from the commune of Lyons-la-Forêt in Eure Normandy; compare 2 above). The name of the city of Lyon is recorded in the 1st century BC as Lugdunum and is from the name of a Celtic god Lug (or this as a personal name from a word meaning ‘brightness’) + dunon ‘hill fort’. Altered form of Dutch De Leeuw .
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022