LION. By the common consent of all ages and countries, the lion has been acknowledged as one of the noblest of creatures, and there is perhaps scarcely a language under heaven in which its designation does not supply one or more personal or family names. Our Christian name Leonard means lion-hearted, and Lionel, the young Lion. Scotland had its AVilliam the Lion, as we our Richard Cceur de Lion, and this cognomen has been applied to princes and chieftains everywhere. Men of high degree of old took it from the charge of their shields ; men of low degree got it from the signs of their houses; and lions of every hue now adorn the sign-post, as of yore they did the banners of" the battle-field.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.