Melis Surname, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

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The surname Melis is a name that was carried to England in the great wave of migration from Normandy following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Melis family lived in Melhuish in Devon. The surname Melis is a habitation name that was originally derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. The surname originated as a means of identifying individuals from a particular area. In the Middle Ages people often assumed the name of the place that they originally lived as their surname during the course of travel.

Melis Early Origins

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The surname Melis was first found in Devon where they held a family seat from ancient times as Lords of the Manor of Melhuish in that shire, some say, well before the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 A.D. The original name of the village was Melewis. Conjecturally the family name is descended from Hugh of Rennes, holder of the village of Melhuish from Baldwin, Sheriff of Devon at the time of the taking of the Domesday Book Survey in 1086 A.D.

Melis Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Mellish, Mellise, Melersh, Mellersh, Melluish, Melish, Mellersh, Mellis, Melliss, Meliss, Melles, Meles, Malis, Malise and many more.

Melis Early History

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Melis research. Another 130 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1350, 1527, and 1643 are included under the topic Early Melis History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Melis Early Notables (pre 1700)

More information is included under the topic Early Melis Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

The Great Migration

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Melis Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Costantinos Melis, who landed in Texas in 1909 ^[1]CITATION[CLOSE]
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
William Melis, aged 38, who arrived in New York in 1919 aboard the ship "Pisco" from Cristobal, C.Z. ^[2]CITATION[CLOSE]
"New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J67L-L49 : 6 December 2014), William Melis, 28 May 1919; citing departure port Cristobal, C.Z., arrival port New York, ship name Pisco, NARA microfilm publication T715 and M237 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
Giovanni Melis, aged 42, who arrived in New York in 1919 aboard the ship "Georgia" from Gibraltar, Spain ^[3]CITATION[CLOSE]
"New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J67G-4J4 : 6 December 2014), Giovanni Melis, 31 May 1919; citing departure port Gibraltar, arrival port New York, ship name Georgia, NARA microfilm publication T715 and M237 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

Contemporary Notables of the name Melis (post 1700)

Louis E. Melis, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Maryland, 1912 ^[4]CITATION[CLOSE]
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 14) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html

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Citations

^ Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
^ "New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J67L-L49 : 6 December 2014), William Melis, 28 May 1919; citing departure port Cristobal, C.Z., arrival port New York, ship name Pisco, NARA microfilm publication T715 and M237 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
^ "New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J67G-4J4 : 6 December 2014), Giovanni Melis, 31 May 1919; citing departure port Gibraltar, arrival port New York, ship name Georgia, NARA microfilm publication T715 and M237 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
^ The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 14) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html

Other References

Browning, Charles H. Americans of Royal Descent. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing. Print.
Mills, A.D. Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4).
Chadwick, Nora Kershaw and J.X.W.P Corcoran. The Celts. London: Penguin, 1790. Print. (ISBN 0140212116).
Papworth, J.W and A.W Morant. Ordinary of British Armorials. London: T.Richards, 1874. Print.
Hanks, Hodges, Mills and Room. The Oxford Names Companion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Print. (ISBN 0-19-860561-7).
Shirley, Evelyn Philip. Noble and Gentle Men of England Or Notes Touching The Arms and Descendants of the Ancient Knightley and Gentle Houses of England Arranged in their Respective Counties 3rd Edition. Westminster: John Bowyer Nichols and Sons, 1866. Print.
Bullock, L.G. Historical Map of England and Wales. Edinburgh: Bartholomew and Son, 1971. Print.
Zieber, Eugene. Heraldry in America. Philadelphia: Genealogical Publishing Co. Print.
Colletta, John P. They Came In Ships. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1993. Print.
Burke, Sir Bernard. General Armory Of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Ramsbury: Heraldry Today. Print.
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The Melis Family Crest was acquired from the Houseofnames.com archives. The Melis Family Crest was drawn according to heraldic standards based on published blazons. We generally include the oldest published family crest once associated with each surname.

This page was last modified on 2 November 2016 at 09:17.