Bemis
A surname that is likely a shortened or altered form of a personal-name-based surname, with early American spelling variation including Bemish.
The #7,093 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 65,384 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The historical evidence here is thin: the excerpts only show Bemis grouped with other surnames and paired with the variant Bemish. The name is most likely a reduced or altered English surname, probably from a fuller given-name or nickname base that has been simplified in American usage. Because the sources do not spell out the underlying root, the safest conclusion is that its exact etymology is uncertain.
History
Bemis is an established American surname, especially visible in New England records and later census returns. The close spelling Bemish suggests that the name has long been subject to local pronunciation-driven variation. The 19th-century source material lists it alongside other immigrant and English surnames but does not give a direct derivation.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The 2010 U.S. Census counted roughly 4,700 bearers of Bemis, making it uncommon but well established.
From the historical record
“Bathholt, Baty, Bauer, Baum ( " a tree " ), Baury, Baxtux, Baynum, Bazin, Beal, Beals, Beaman, Beamis and Bemis, Bearse, Beazley, Beckler, Beck- man, Bedel, Beeler, Behringer, Bekkenhuis, Belden and Belding, Belford, Bellamy, Belser, Belyea, Bement, Bemish, Benari, Benedetto, Bennellick, Benner, Bense, Bensemoin…”
— Suffolk Surnames (3rd ed.)