Jewish: from the Hebrew personal name Amos, of uncertain
origin, in some traditions connected with the Hebrew verb amos
‘to carry’, and assigned the meaning ‘borne by God’. This was the name
of a Biblical prophet of the 8th century bc, whose oracles
are recorded in the Book of Amos. This was one of the Biblical names
taken up by Puritans and Nonconformists in the 16th–17th centuries,
too late to have had much influence on surname formation, except in
Wales.
English: variant of Amis, assimilated in
spelling to the Biblical name. It occurs chiefly in southeastern
England.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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