Travis Family History

English (mainly Lancashire and Yorkshire): from Old French and Middle English travers, also Middle English travas, travis, a word with several meanings. It may denote a toll paid for the right to cross a boundary or bridge, the surname perhaps being for someone who paid or collected such tolls.

Alternatively, it may mean ‘crosswise, sideways’ or ‘dispute, disagreement’. The Old French word also had the sense ‘crossing, passage’ and it is more than likely that the surname is Norman in origin for someone who lived at a crossing place or at a place so named (compare French Travers).

The presence of the preposition ‘de’ (and perhaps also ‘le’) in early forms of the surname appears to indicate a topographic or habitational explanation, but the French preposition and definite article were sometimes added gratuitously to Norman surnames as a sign of their high social status.

See also Travers, Americanized form of German Drewes.