Willis (surname)

Willis is a surname of French and English origin. The oldest extant family of the name, the Willes family of Warwickshire, formerly of Newbold Comyn and Fenny Compton, has used the spellings 'Willis,' 'Willys,' and 'Wyllys' and appear in records from 1330.[1] In this case, the name derives from the name de Welles (under which name the family were Lincolnshire noblemen) which comes from the Norman name de Vallibus (meaning 'of the valley'), which in turn was derived from the Vaux family tree. The Vaux family, established in England by Harold de Vaux, a close relative of William the Conqueror, appears in French records from 794. They had held power in their own right and through royal intermarriages.[2]

There are other derivations of the name, including 'son of William/ Will' (whereby the name has developed from 'Wills', and is similar to 'Wilson' and other related names);[3] because of the popularity of the name 'William' since the Norman conquest, it is clear that by no means are all people with this surname- even very distantly- related.[4]

Sources of the name notwithstanding, specific notable Willis families (aside from those in Warwickshire, aforementioned) were of: Halsnead, Lancashire (now in Whiston, Merseyside); Atherfield, on the Isle of Wight (and subsequently of an estate named after it at Woldingham, Surrey); and Monk's Barn, Petersfield, Hampshire. The Willis (later Willis Bund) family were of Wick, Worcestershire, a cadet branch of the Cambridgeshire family from which also came brothers Thomas and Richard Willis (also Willys), each created a baronet, both titles being extinct at the failure of their descendants by 1732.[5] Humphrey Willis, an English soldier who became Sheriff of County Donegal and County Fermanagh, was of a yeomanry/ minor gentry family[6] of Woolavington, Somerset, related on his mother's side to the Pophams of Huntworth;[7] he was the ancestor of the Willis family of Florencecourt, County Fermanagh, later also of Monmouthshire, of which came the physician and foreign advisor to Japan, William Willis, and the writer Anthony Armstrong (born George Anthony Armstrong Willis);[8][9][10] George Willis, who farmed at Florencecourt, discovered the Florencecourt Yew in 1767.[11][12]


Notable persons with this surname include:

A

B

C

D
  • Damion Willis (born 1997), American football player
  • Dave Willis (born 1970), American voice actor
  • David Willis (disambiguation), several people
  • Deborah Willis (disambiguation), several people
  • Dinah Willis (born 1945), American model
  • Dixie Willis (born 1941), former Australian middle distance runner
  • Donald Willis (born 1973), former American football player
  • Don Willis (1909–1984), American pool hustler
  • Dontrelle Willis (born 1982), Major League pitcher for the Detroit Tigers

E

F

G
  • Gary Willis (born 1957), American musician
  • Geoff Willis (born 1959), Formula One Technical Director (Red Bull)
  • George Willis (disambiguation), several people
  • Gerald Willis III (born 1995), American football player
  • Gerri Willis (born 1959), CNN news anchor
  • Gordon Willis (1931–2014), American cinematographer

H

I

J

K

L

M
  • Marcus Willis (born 1990), British tennis player
  • Mark Willis (disambiguation), several people
  • Matt Willis (disambiguation), several people
  • Matthew Willis (disambiguation), several people
  • Meredith Sue Willis (born 1946), American writer
  • Michael Willis (born 1949), American actor
  • Michelle Willis (born 1986), American composer
  • Mike Willis (born 1950), former American baseball player

N

P

R

S

T

V
  • Vic Willis (1875–1947), American Major League baseball player
  • Victor Willis (born 1951), American singer/songwriter

W
  • Walt Willis (1919–1999), Irish science fiction writer
  • Walter Willis (disambiguation), several people
  • Wesley Willis (1963–2003), Chicago artist and musician
  • William Nicholas Willis (1858–1922), Australian politician
  • William Willis (1837–1894), British physician
  • William Willis (1897–1971), American sailor and adventurer
  • William Willis (1841–1923), British inventor
  • William Willis (1794–1870), American politician, Mayor of Portland, Maine, in 1857
  • William J. Willis (1932–2012), American physicist
  • William Willis Garth (1828–1912), American politician
  • Wincey Willis (born 1948), weather forecaster on TVAM in Britain in the 1980s
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References
  1. Burke's Landed Gentry, 1969, 'Willes formerly of Newbold Comyn'
  2. History of the Welles family of England and Normandy, Albert Welles, 1876, pp 6–8
  3. The Scottish Surnames of Colonial America, David Dobson, 2003, pg 148
  4. American Surnames, Elsdon Coles Smith, 1986, pg 49
  5. Burke's Family Index, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1976, pp. 166–167
  6. Somerset in the Civil War and Interregnum, David Underdown, David & Charles, 1973, p. 107
  7. "Catalogue description Will of Humfrey Willis, Gentleman of Woolavington, Somerset".
  8. The County Families of the United Kingdom, Edward Walford, Chatto & Windus, 1886, p. 1114
  9. "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/67269.
  10. The Royal Navy as I Saw It, G. H. A. Willis, John Murray, 1924, pp. 1-3
  11. "The original Irish Yew Tree at Florence Court".
  12. 'The Nomenclature and History in Cultivation of the Irish Yew, Taxus Baccata "Fastigiata"', E. Charles Nelson, Contributions from the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, 1–5, National Botanic Gardens (Ireland), Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, 1976, p. 33
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