Ellis
A very common surname with several possible roots, including Welsh patronymic, English-from-Given-Name, and sometimes descriptive or occupational origins.
The #131 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 1,634 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Ellis is a surname with more than one historical source. In some cases it comes from the medieval given name Ellis, a form related to Elijah, and in others it reflects Welsh or Cornish name patterns such as surnames formed from kinship terms or from the personal name Elia/Elis. Older writers also connected it with Welsh and Cornish words meaning a son-in-law, though that explanation is not accepted as the only source for the name. Because the surname arose independently in different places, different families called Ellis may have entirely different origins.
History
The name became widespread in Britain very early and later spread broadly through English-speaking countries. It is especially common in Wales and western England, where patronymic naming traditions helped preserve forms like Ellis and Ellice. The surname also appears in records in multiple spellings, showing that it was not a single-family name but a cluster of similar-looking names that merged over time.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Lower specifically noted that Ellis is one of the surnames with unusually many different origins, which is why family lines with the same spelling may not be related.
From the historical record
“existed. ELLIS. In the whole ranoe of family nomenclature there is perhaps no name which admits of more variety of origin, or a greater number of differing forms, " Elles or Ellis in British," says Hals, in D. Gilbert's Cornwall, iii. ■129, "is ason-in- law by the wife, and Els or Ells, a son-in- law by the…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom