A Scottish surname, Livingston comes from the Old English term ‘leofwine’ and Middle English term ‘levin’ meaning a good friend. There was also an Englishman named Leving who lived in the Scottish region of Lothian with lands called Levingestun. The spelling variations for Livingston include Livingstone, Livington, Levinson, Lewynston, MacLeay, Levinston and Levingston. In England most with the Livingston name live in the northern regions. The higher percentage with the Livingston name reside in Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire. There is also a large population with the Livingston surname in the city of London. In Scotland the Livingston surname originated in the Lothian region. It spread to the entire region and especially concentrated in Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and Argyll. Within the United States the Livingston surname originated in Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas. Famous: Jay Livingston (songwriter), Philip Livingston (1776 New York signer of the American Declaration of Independence), Shaun Livingston (professional basketball player), William Livingston (1787 signer of the U. S. Constitution from New Jersey), Stanley Livingston (television actor), Randy Livingston (professional basketball player) and Paul Livingston (comic from Australia).