Word.ws English Dictionary

Ellis

/ˈɛ.lɪs/

Ellis proper noun: an English surname originating as a patronymic from Elis, the Middle English form of Elijah.

Proper noun

Ellis (countable and uncountable, plural Ellises)

  1. An English surname originating as a patronymic from Elis, the Middle English form of Elijah.
    • Trump campaign adviser Jenna Ellis intentionally misgendered Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine, a transgender woman, on Twitter early Monday morning.2020, Tim Fitzsimons, “Trump campaign adviser 'won't apologize' for misgendering trans health official”, in NBC News
  2. A surname from Welsh [in turn originating as a patronymic] and A male given name from Welsh, an anglicization of Elisedd.
  3. A unisex given name transferred from the surname.
  4. An unincorporated community in Stockton Township, Greene County, Indiana; named for politician William Ellis Niblack.
  5. An unincorporated community in Scott Township, Steuben County, Indiana.
  6. A city in Ellis County, Kansas; named for American Civil War veteran George Ellis.
  7. A township in Cheboygan County, Michigan.
  8. An unincorporated community in Byron Township, Cass County, Minnesota.
  9. An unincorporated community in Vernon County, Missouri.
  10. An unincorporated community in Gage County, Nebraska; named for banker John R. Ellis.
  11. An unincorporated community in Muskingum County, Ohio; named for a local family.
  12. An unincorporated community in Minnehaha County, South Dakota; probably named for railroad worker A. B. Ellis.
  13. An unincorporated community in the town of Sharon, Portage County, Wisconsin; named for politician Albert G. Ellis.

Forms of Ellis

pluralEllises
alternative formEllice

Origin of Ellis

* As an English surname, from the Middle English personal name Elis, an Old French form of Elias. Compare Elijah, Lias, Ely. Also sometimes from the Elice, a pet form of Elizabeth. * As a Welsh surname, shortened from the personal name Elisse, Elisedd, from the archaic elus (“benevolent, kind”).

Words formed from Ellis

Words that rhyme with Ellis

Questions about Ellis

What does Ellis mean?
Ellis means an English surname originating as a patronymic from Elis, the Middle English form of Elijah.
What part of speech is Ellis?
Ellis is a proper noun.
How do you pronounce Ellis?
Ellis is pronounced /ˈɛ.lɪs/.

Words near Ellis in the dictionary

  1. elliptopes
  2. elliptospherocone
  3. elliptospherocones
  4. elliptospheroconic
  5. ellipts
  6. Ellis
  7. Ellis County
  8. Ellis Island
  9. Ellis Lane
  10. Ellis-Van Creveld syndrome
  11. Ellisburg

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Ellis (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Ellis.wav.

Cite this entry: “Ellis.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ellis. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.