Wallis
An old ethnic surname meaning “Welshman” or, more broadly, “foreigner.”
The #3,104 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 26,630 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Wallis is generally explained as an ethnic name for a Welshman or Celt. The medieval forms go back to Old English and related Germanic words such as wealh, meaning “foreigner” or “Celt,” which also underlies forms like Welsh and Wallace. French and Latin spellings such as Waleys, Walensis, and Walcnsis reflect the same idea in medieval records.
History
The name is recorded in medieval English sources, including 12th- and 13th-century examples cited by Harrison. It belongs to the broad family of surnames used for people identified as Welsh or as outsiders in Anglo-Saxon and Norman usage, and it is closely related to Wallace and Walsh. In later centuries it became a stable hereditary surname in England and, through migration, in other English-speaking countries.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same old Germanic root that lies behind Wallis also helped shape the modern English word Welsh.
From the historical record
“WALLIS (A.-Fr.-Teut.) i Welshman, Celt {K-Fr. Waleis, Waleys, Walais, Walays, Walleys (Fr. Gallois, Welshman) ; L. Lat. Walcnsis ; f. O.Teut. W(e)alh, foreigner^ Celt] ; Ricardus Walensis. — MSS. Dn. & Ch. Wells, c. A.D. 1185. , Maddok le Walays. — ■ Lane. Assize-Rolls, A.D. 1246.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)