Griffis
A surname usually treated as a spelling variant of Griffin, ultimately linked to the Welsh personal name Gruffudd.
The #4,278 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 37,158 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Griffis is generally understood as an altered surname form of Griffin, which itself goes back to the Welsh personal name Gruffudd. That Welsh name is traditionally explained as containing elements meaning something like "strong" and "lord" or "chief," though the exact historical shaping of the name is complex. In English-speaking records, the spelling was often simplified and varied widely, producing forms such as Griffis, Griffitts, Griffith, and Griffin.
History
The surname is most likely an Americanized or English spelling variant that developed from Griffin-family forms in records where spelling was not fixed. It is especially plausible in areas where Welsh surnames were adapted to English orthography. Like many such surnames, Griffis may reflect the ordinary tendency of clerks and families to stabilize a pronunciation in several different written forms over time.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Many surnames in the Griffin group can trace back to medieval Welsh personal names that were later reshaped again and again as they moved into English records.