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Origins Available: |
| England |
Portis is a name that first reached England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Portis family lived in Norfolk. Thae name could also be an occupational name. Occupational names that were derived from the common trades of the medieval era transcended European cultural and linguistic boundaries. In this case, the term porcker was someone who tended pigs.
The surname Portis was first found in Norfolk where they held a family seat from very early times and were granted lands by Duke William of Normandy, their liege Lord, for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Portis research. Another 122 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1185 and 1273 are included under the topic Early Portis History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Portis are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Portis include Porcher, Porchers and others.
More information is included under the topic Early Portis Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
In the United States, the name Portis is the 5,116th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 1
Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Portis, or a variant listed above: