Hollis
A surname usually understood as referring to someone who lived by holly bushes or holly trees.
The #1,233 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 10,789 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hollis is generally explained as a topographic surname from Middle English holly or hollin, meaning “holly,” with the final -s often reflecting a local or possessive form. In this view, it began as a name for someone living near holly trees or holly bushes, or perhaps “at the hollins” (the holly place). The older sources also treat it as a variant spelling of Hollins.
History
19th- and early-20th-century surname writers commonly grouped Hollis with Hollins and related forms, and treated it as a local name tied to holly growth. The spelling with -is is often described as a weakened or shortened form that spread from dialect and clerical variation. It is well established in England and later became common in the United States through ordinary migration and settlement.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same plant root behind Hollis also helped produce surnames like Hollins and, through related dialect forms, Holmes.
From the historical record
“HOITT, HOLDERREID, IIoLTAN and HoLYEN, HoLLERAN, HOLLFELDER, HoLLIHAN and HOLLOHAN, IIOLLINGS, HOLLIS, IIOLLISTER, HoLMBO.M, IIOLON, IIOLSTED, HoL- STEN, HoLT, HOLTER, HoLTZER, HoNNAUS, IIoOGS, HOOLEY, HOPPENHAUS, HoRAN, HoRKHEIMER, HoRM, HORR, HORRIGAN, HoSACK, IIoSKINS, HoSMER, HoUD- LETTE, HOURAN, HoUSEBERGER…”
— Suffolk Surnames (3rd ed.)