Loftis
A surname most likely linked to Loftus, especially the Irish place name or its local family forms.
The #5,162 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 45,558 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Loftis is generally treated as a variant of Loftus. Loftus itself is commonly explained as a locational name from a place in Yorkshire, England, and in Irish usage it was also associated with the established Loftus family name. The ending -is likely reflects regional spelling variation and phonetic reshaping rather than a separate original meaning.
History
The surname appears in historical records as a variant form alongside Loftus, especially in Irish and Anglo-Irish contexts. Because the excerpts provided mention Loftis only incidentally, they do not give a full standalone etymology, but they do support its use as an established surname form by the 19th and early 20th centuries. In modern usage it survives in the United States and elsewhere, often alongside the more common Loftus spelling.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early surname collections sometimes list Loftis right next to Loftus, showing how fluid spelling could be before modern standardization.
From the historical record
“•oe tioflA, Leslie, Lesley, •oe tiofcijn, Liston. •oe toccuf, Loftus, Loftis. •oe 'Lonx)|iA, "oe ton-o^AAf , Land- rey. Landers, •oe ton'oviTi, Lundon, London,”
— Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish names and surnames