Hi,
I fully agree with Tamás: there is no need to search for a continuous usage: prior to the 20th century, the name appears in sources studied by me neither for Ashkenazim, nor for Sephardic, Maghrebi, or Middle Eastern Jews.
Concerning a possibility of the creation of it as a calque of Yiddish Libe (I think I could share this idea with you in a personal email communication), if you search the Yad Vashem data base for this given name, you'll see multiple confirmations.
![Image en ligne Image en ligne](https://groups.google.com/group/jewish-languages/attach/7633193cb663f/1697373096831blob.jpg?part=0.1&view=1)
Curiously, the list also includes a unique non-Ashkenazic occurrence: in Monastir/Bitola. I'm wondering whether it is an accurate information or a Hebrew calque made by the author of the testimony page of the genuine name.
Alexander Beider