Luis
A Spanish and Portuguese surname from the given name Luis, ultimately from the old Germanic name Ludwig, meaning “famous battle.”
The #3,827 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 33,360 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Luis is a surname formed from the personal name Luis, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Louis. That first name goes back to Old Germanic Ludwig, built from elements meaning “fame” and “battle.” In other words, the surname originally identified someone as “son of Luis” or as belonging to the family of a man named Luis.
History
As a surname, Luis is most natural in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking areas, where inherited surnames were often created from common given names. The historical excerpts also show the wider Romance spread of the name forms Louis/Ludovic/Luis in different spellings and languages. Because the surname is identical to a very common first name, some families may have adopted it independently in different places.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The underlying Germanic root behind Luis is the same one that produced Louis in French and Ludwig in German.
From the historical record
“LUIS DE SALAZAR ORIGEN DE 300 APELLIDOS CASTELLANOS V VASCONGADOS Estudio al que preceden algunos comentarios al libro titulado "Bienandanzas e Fortunas” que escribió Lope García de 5a!azar”
— Origen de 300 apellidos castellanos y vascongadosNotable people named Luis
- Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548–1611)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.