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Here's the information we found on the name "Leaven."
We didn't find any information about this name in Welsh or English sources. There is a town called "St. Levan" in Cornwall, but this is a greatly modified form of the original name, which was "St. Salamun" (from "Solomon") St. Salamun is a Cornish saint who is first mentioned in the 10th century; over the years the name of the church dedicated to him became "Selevan" and eventually "Levan."
This person may be the person you had heard of. It's possible, but not likely, that the name "Leaven" is related to this place. There are a number of other places called "Leven," including one in Yorkshire, one in Westmorland, and two in Scotland. It's possible that the name "Leaven" derives from any of these places. Another possibility is that the name is derived from the Old English name "Leofwine" (pronounced "lay-ov-een-a"). There are examples of British place-names which mutated from "Leof-" to "Lev-," but we can't say for sure where this name comes from.
Brian Scott, Craig Levin, Heather Rose Jones, and Josh Mittleman all contributed to this letter.
We hope this has been helpful.
Sincerely,
Alan Terlep
Academy of S. Gabriel