Loveday is a name, thought to derive from Old English Leofdaeg or alternatively Lief Tag. Leofdaeg is composed of the words leof meaning dear/beloved or precious and daeg meaning day. Lief Tag literally translates to Love Day, and is thought to have existed in eastern Britain from around the 7th century.
Loveday was used as a given name during the Middle Ages in England, which has now become confined to Cornwall, where it survives in occasional use by people such as Loveday Jenkin. The name was originally bestowed, either formally or as a nickname, with reference to a Love Day, a day appointed for a meeting between enemies and litigants with a view to an amicable settlement. The name is now only given to girls.
Variant spellings include:
- Daylof
- Dayluue
- Leuare
- Leudedai
- Leue
- Leued
- Leuedaei
- Liuedai
- Loue
- Louedai
- Loueday
- Lovdie
- Love
- Lovedaia
- Loveday
- Lovedaya
- Loveta
- Lovota
- Lowdy
- Lowdie
- Luueday
- Luuedei
- Luveday
- Leofdaeg
- Lief Tag
Fictional characters
- Alan Loveday (1928–2016), New Zealand-born violinist
- Alexander Loveday, British economist
- Catherine Loveday, British campaigner for war memorials
- Clare Loveday, South African classical music composer
- David Loveday, English Anglican bishop
- Francis Loveday (1892–1954), English cricketer
- Gary Loveday (born 1964), English cricketer
- Helen Loveday, Swiss university lecturer
- Henry Herbert Loveday, British railway administrator
- John Loveday (disambiguation), several people
- Leigh Loveday, Welsh video game writer and designer
- Mark Loveday, British businessman
- Papis Loveday, Senegalese model and fashion entrepreneur
- Pete Loveday, British cartoonist
- Peter Loveday, Australian singer/songwriter
- Richard John Loveday (1818–1883), South Australian surveyor
- Ron Loveday (1900–1987), Australian politician
- Thomas Loveday, 16th-century MP for Gloucester
- Thomas Loveday (university administrator), British professor of philosophy, later a university administrator
Fictional Characters
- Bice, Christopher (1970). Names for the Cornish: Three Hundred Cornish Christian Names. London: The Lodenek Press. ISBN 0-902899-01-5.