This ancient surname of many spellings, is a "crusader" import into
Europe from the Holy Land. Recorded as Elliss, Elix, Ellice, Eles, Elias,
Heelis, and many other forms, it derives from the Greek "Elias", itself from
the Hebrew "Eliyahu", and meaning "Jehovah is God". The name became popular
among Christians in the Middle Ages partly because of its adoption by
various early saints and martyrs including a 7th Century Bishop of Syracuse,
but mainly as a result of soldiers and pilgrims from the 11th and 12th
century crusades. These people on their return home, often christened their
children with the ancient names of the Old Testament in memory of the
father's efforts to free the Holy Land from the Saracens. The fact that
there were twelve such expeditions and all were unsuccessful, does not
appear to have dimmed their enthusiasm. The earliest of all hereditary
surnames and their recording, was in England, and it is here that we find
the first examples of the surname. These include in the year 1202, William
Elis in the charters relating to the Danelaw of the county of Lincolnshire,
and Robert Elys or Helys, who was listed in the Calendar of Documents for
the county of Essex, in 1250. One of the first settlers in the New England
colonies was Richard Ellis, aged 29 yrs., who left London on the ship
"Bonaventure", bound for Virginia in January 1634. The first recorded
spelling of the family name anywhere in the world, is believed to be that of
William Elyas, which was dated 1200, in the tax returns for the county of
Yorkshire. This was during the reign of King John of England , 1199 - 1216.
Throughout the centuries surnames in every country have continued to
"develop", often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
© Copyright: Name Orgin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2007
First Generation - Steven Ellis and Connie
MacEachern
1. Steven Ellis
m: Connie MacEachern daughter of
Roy MacEachern
and Lillian McAllar.
children:
i. Nicki Arsenault