An Welsh, English and Scottish surname which is very widespread in Wales. Originally a French Norman given name of ’Lowis’ and “Lodovicus’ with the Germanic words ’hlod’ which means fame and ’wig’ which means war. The Germanic form of Louis means ‘renowned or famous battle.’

For the Welsh version of Lewis it is Llewellyn. The Irish and Scottish version had Mac Lughaidh, which means son of Lughaidh. The surname Lewis is also a common given name for individuals. spellings for Lewis include Lewes and Louis.

In the United States Lewis families are in the northeast, mostly in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Other clusters of that surname are located in the states of California, Georgia and Texas. Many Jewish immigrants with the surnames of Levi, Lewin or Levy changed their surname to Lewis once they arrived in the United States.

Famous: Jerry Lee Lewis (, songwriter, and pianist), Daniel-Day Lewis (actor), Colby Lewis (professional baseball player), Lennox Lewis (boxer in England), Gary Lewis (singer in Scotland), Jerry Lewis (actor and comic), Edward John Lewis (rugby player for Wales), Miles Marshall Lewis (writer), Robert Lewis (co-pilot of plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima), Meriwether Lewis (19thcentury explorer in America) and Harry Sinclair Lewis (novelist and playwright).