Lewis (surname)

Lewis is a surname in the English language. It has several independent origins.

Lewis
PronunciationLewis
Origin
Word/nameseveral origins
Region of originWales, England, Scotland, Ireland
Other names
Variant form(s)Lewes, Louis, Luis

One of the origins of the surname, in England and Wales, is from the Norman personal name Lowis, Lodovicus. This name is from the post-Classical Latin name Ludovicus meaning victorious in athletic games (ludus, game; vicus, var. of victor, winner). The name developed into the Old French Clovis, Clouis, Louis; as well as into the German Ludwig. The name Lowis spread to England through the Normans.

In the United Kingdom Lewis is most commonly associated with Wales, and is a common Welsh Patronym. The name developed as an Anglicised or diminutive form of native Welsh names such as Llywelyn. Among the earliest examples being the Lewis family of Glamorgan in the 1540s.[1] Other derivations include the Gaelic surname Mac Lughaidh, meaning "son of Lughaidh", which has also been Anglicised as Lewis. The surname Lewis is also an Anglicisation of several like-sounding Jewish surnames,[2] such as "Levy" or "Levi", and of the Arab form of the name "Elias".

Lewis is the 4th most common surname in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 6th most common surname in Wales, 16th most common in Jamaica, 22nd most common in England, 24th most common in the United States, 61st most common in Canada and 129th most common in Scotland.[3]

Real people

Business

Economics

Law
  • Bayan Lewis (born 1942), Los Angeles police chief
  • George Henry Lewis (1833–1911), English lawyer of Jewish extraction
  • James W. Lewis, American convicted in relation to the 1982 Tylenol scare
  • Johnnie Lewis (1946–2015), Liberian judge
  • R. Fred Lewis (born 1947), American judge
  • Terry Lewis (Queensland) (born 1928), former Queensland police commissioner
  • Theodore G. Lewis (1890–1934), American judge
  • William Draper Lewis (1867–1949), American legal scholar

Literature

Military and naval

Modelling

Music

Philosophy

Politics

Religion

Science

Sports

Television and film

Theater

Visual art

Other

Fictional characters
  • Alphie Lewis, fictional character from House of Anubis
  • Anne Lewis, fictional cop character in RoboCop and its first two sequels
  • Bill Lewis III, fictional character from Guiding Light
  • Charlotte Lewis (Lost), fictional character from Lost
  • Cliff Lewis, fictional character from Matlock
  • Darcy Lewis, fictional character in Thor (film) & Thor: The Dark World
  • Edward Lewis, fictional character in Pretty Woman
  • Josh and Reva Lewis, fictional characters from Guiding Light
  • Tara Lewis, protagonist of Criminal Minds
  • Luke Lewis, fictional character from music business Universal
  • Marisol Lewis, from Degrassi
  • Meldrick Lewis, from Homicide: Life on the Street
  • Parker Lewis, fictional character from Parker Lewis Can't Lose
  • Robbie Lewis, fictional character in Inspector Morse and Inspector Lewis
  • Shelley Lewis, fictional character from EastEnders
  • Simon Lewis, fictional character from The Mortal Instruments (series)
  • Susan Lewis (ER), fictional character from ER
  • Tony Lewis, fictional character from The Tenth Kingdom
  • Vanessa Lewis, fictional character from Virtua Fighter
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See also

References
  1. The National Library of Wales
  2. "Learn about the family history of your surname". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 10 October 2010. which cited Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508137-4. for the surname "Lewis".
  3. "Lewis Surname Meaning". forebears.co.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2014
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