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.
Early Origins of the Melis family
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.
Early History of the Melis family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Melis research.
Another 69 words (5 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 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.
Early Notables of the Melis family (pre 1700)
More information is included under the topic Early Melis Notables in all our
PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Melis family to the New World and Oceana
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