Lewis (surname)

Lewis
Family name
Pronunciation Lewis
Region of origin Normandy, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, United States, Jewish
Related names Lewes, Louis,
Footnotes: [1]

Lewis is a surname in the English language. It has several independent origins.

One of origins of the surname, in England and Wales, is from the Norman personal name Lowis, Lodovicus. This name is composed of the Germanic elements hlod and wig, meaning "fame" and "war". The name developed into the Old French Clovis, Clouis, Louis; as well as into the German Ludwig. The name Lowis spread to England through the Normans. Lewis has since become confused with other unrelated names. One such name is Llywelyn in Welsh which has been Anglicised into Lewis, with among the earliest examples being the Lewis family of Glamorgan in the 1540s.[2] Another is the Gaelic surname Mac Lughaidh, meaning "son of Lughaidh", which has also been Anglicised as Lewis. The surname Lewis is also an Americanization of several like-sounding Jewish surnames,[3] such as "Levi."

Lewis is the 23rd-most common surname in the United Kingdom.[4]

Contents

List of people having surname Lewis

Music

Television and film

Sports

Literature

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Business

Politics

Military and naval

Economics

Science

Visual art

Religion

Philosophy

Law

Stage

Royalty

Other

List of fictional characters having surname Lewis

References

  1. ^ 1990 Census Name Files
  2. ^ The National Library of Wales
  3. ^ "Learn about the family history of your surname". Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx?. Retrieved 10 October 2010.  which cited Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508137-4.  for the surname "Lewis".
  4. ^ British surnames