Ellison surname meaning

Ellison is chiefly an English patronymic: Middle English Ellis (the everyday form of biblical Elijah/Elias, from Hebrew Eliyahu, “the Lord is my God”) plus the -son ending, so “son of Ellis.” A second English stream comes from the medieval female name Elissent or Elisant (ancient Germanic Elisind). In Scotland the spelling sometimes overlaps post-medieval Allison. Some American Jewish families adopted Ellison as an Americanization of an Elijah-based surname. Elison and Ellyson are variants. Parent’s name fits the Ellis lead, and that reading is high confidence despite the lesser streams.