Lewis Surname Meaning & Origin

The Lewis surname is generally derived from the Germanic given name Lewis (Lowis, Lodovicus), meaning renowned, famous battle, from the Germanic elements hlod ‘fame’ wig ‘war.’ In Wales, the Lewis surname may have derived from an Anglicized form of the personal name Llywelyn. As an Irish or Scottish surname, Lewis can be an Anglicized form of the Gaelic Mac Lughaidh, meaning son of Lughaidh, derived from Lugh brightness. Lewis is also a common Americanization of several similar-sounding Jewish surnames, such as Levy and Lewin. Lewis is the 26th most popular surname in the United States and the 21st most common surname in England. Surname Origin English Alternate Surname Spellings LOUIS, LOUYS Famous People With the Surname LEWIS Edna Lewis - Gourmet chef and cookbook authorEdmonia Lewis - African American and Native American female sculptorCarl Lewis - Olympic track and field athleteMeriwether Lewis - one half of the legendary Lewis Clark expedition to the Pacific Ocean, along with William Clark.C.S. Lewis - author of the popular Narnia series of childrens books Genealogy Resources for the Surname LEWIS 100 Most Common U.S. Surnames Their MeaningsSmith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census? Lewis Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Lewis surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Lewis query. FamilySearch - LEWIS GenealogyFind records, queries, and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Lewis surname and its variations. LEWIS Surname Family Mailing ListsRootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Lewis surname. Cousin Connect - LEWIS Genealogy QueriesRead or post genealogy queries for the surname Lewis, and sign up for free notification when new Lewis queries are added. DistantCousin.com - LEWIS Genealogy Family HistoryFree databases and genealogy links for the last name Lewis. Source Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German Jewish Surnames. Avotaynu, 2005.Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia. Avotaynu, 2004.Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989.Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003.Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.