About the Cleaveland surname
The surname Cleaveland has a primarily toponymic formation. The morphology of Cleaveland is compatible with many English surnames derived from a place-name or landscape element. The underlying locality or root should be confirmed in historical sources. In this type of surname, the name first located a person in relation to a place before becoming hereditary. Families bearing the same surname may nevertheless come from different places when more than one locality produced a similar name.
Pronunciation:
Kli-vè-leund/klivɛlœnd/