Lewis History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Etymology of Lewis

What does the name Lewis mean?

The proud Lewis surname is from the personal name Lewis, an Anglicized form of the Welsh name Llewellyn. This name is often explained as meaning “lion-like,” but is in fact probably derived from the Welsh word “llyw,” which means “leader.” Alternatively, the name Lewis is also an Anglo-French form of the Old Frankish name Hludwig, which means “loud battle.”

Early Origins of the Lewis family

The surname Lewis was first found in Glamorganshire (Welsh: Sir Forgannwg), a region of South Wales, anciently part of the Welsh kingdom of Glywysing, where the family held a seat from ancient times.

Lewis Spelling Variations

The Welsh have an extremely large amount of spelling variations of their native surnames to their credit. It was up to the priest or the scribe taking the official records to determine how the spoken name was to be made literal. As time progressed, the old Brythonic names of Wales were recorded in English, which was especially problematic since the English language had extreme difficulty recording the highly inflected sounds of Cymraeg. Spelling variations were, however, also carried out according to an individual’s design: a branch loyalty within the family, a religious adherence, or even patriotic affiliations could be indicated by spelling variations of one’s name. The spelling variations of the name Lewis have included Lewis, Lewiss, Lewess, Lews, Llewys, Llewis, Lewwis, Llewess and many more.

Early Notables of the Lewis family

• Sir William Lewis, 1st Baronet (1598-1677), an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1640 and 1677
• William Lewis (1625-1661), an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660
• Richard Lewis (c 1627-1706), an English landowner and politician
• David Lewis (1616-1679), a Welsh Catholic priest and martyr who was also known as Charles Baker
• Pierce Lewis (1664-1699), a Welsh cleric who helped to “correct” the 1690 edition of the Welsh Bible
• Edward Lewis (1650-1674), an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1669 to 1675

Lewis World Ranking

the United States, the name Lewis is the 23^rd most popular surname with an estimated 562,062 people with that name. 1 However, in Canada, the name Lewis is ranked the 61^st most popular surname with an estimated 35,038 people with that name. 2 And in Quebec, Canada, the name Lewis is the 899^th popular surname. 3 Newfoundland, Canada ranks Lewis as 64^th with 412 people. 4 Australia ranks Lewis as 47^th with 40,743 people. 5 New Zealand ranks Lewis as 70^th with 4,848 people. 6 The United Kingdom ranks Lewis as 22^nd with 116,009 people. 7 South Africa ranks Lewis as 337^th with 20,102 people. 8