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Meaning & History
This name derives from the Medieval given name Elis first recorded in the 1220 Pipe Rolls of Middlesex "Elis de Adham". The ultimate origin of the name is the Hebrew, Elisha or Elijah (meaning "Jehovah is God"). The surname adopted from this source appears in the 13th century. A William Elis is recorded in the Lincolnshire Pipe Rolls (1202), and an Andrew Elice in the 1309 Subsidy Rolls of Bedfordshire. The surname Ellis with its many variant forms is well recorded in Kent Church Registers from the mid 16th century on. The spelling Ellis appears in 1559, Ellas (1628), El(l)ice (1633) and Allos (1634).