LEWIS as a surname from Portugal

[bbffrrpp]

Hello,

The other day I was doing a look-up in census records for another
researcher. They were looking for a William LEWIS in Bristol County,
Massachusetts. It could have been anywhere in the 1880 to 1920
timeframe. I was surprised when I saw in the 1900 census that
there were 10 Joseph LEWIS' and 10 Mary LEWIS' listed, with most
born in Portugual, Azores, Madeira.

I hadn't thought of LEWIS as a Portuguese surname. One of my
ancestors was a LEWIS and he was from England, and it is popular
there. And LEWIS is a popular name in Wales.

FYI: I just saw the other discussion in the Group this morning,
and I can mention something. My step-son sometimes travels to
Europe for his job, and last fall he called to ask about his Azorean
ancestors. I don't remember the exact details, but the summary is
that, IF he could say that his grandparents were born in the Azores,
he could travel to some of the countries in Europe without a
passport (perhaps Portugal?). But, I had done basic research on
his father's family-tree, and it was the step-son's great-
grandparents who were born in the Azores. So, that didn't
count. His father's father was born in Massachusetts.

Betty (near Lowell, MA, USA)



(I've posted before about the Antonio PACHECO, b1885 near Ponta
Delgada, Sao Miguel, and Elsie MOURA, b~1892 probably in Sao
Miguel. Both arrived separately ~1905, and married in Cambridge, MA
in 1911. I was told that the father, Francisco MOURA, might have
originated in Santa Maria. Tony's father was Joao PACHECO.)

(I've never had the time to attempt to find the ships they traveled
on. I also have not had the time to try to find out whether "Frank"
MOURA came to the US when his wife and children came to MA ~1910.
He could have been killed at sea as a Whaler, or the couple
separated.)

[Cheri Mello]

Hi Betty,

Lewis is Louis in Portuguese.

Every time I've gone to the Azores, I had to have a passport to enter the country.  So did everyone else in the line.  Some with Portuguese passports who needed to show it to come back home.

Cheri Mello
Listowner, Azores-Gen
Researching: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada

[Jason Fraga]

Betty, I have a number of Lewis cousins that are from the Azores. The name was changed from Luiz.

Jay Fraga
Massachusetts

Sent from my iPhone

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[Richard Francis Pimentel]

To add to what Jay said, I agree the name was changed from Luiz, It seems
that first names were adopted as family names. An example I found very
common is people with the last name Jose when they came to this country it
may have been changed to Joseph. In records I have come across a man named
Bernardo Pacheco. His son went with the name Jose Bernardo Pacheco. In later
records the name Pacheco was dropped and it was recorded as Bernardo. So in
the matter of a few generations the name went from Pacheco to Bernardo.

Rick

Richard Francis Pimentel
Spring, TX
Formerly of Epping, New Hampshire

Researching, Riberia Grande, Riberinha Ponta Delgada, and Achada Grande,
Sao Miguel, Acores

[Lionel Holmes]

Lewis isn't a Portuguse surname. It's an Anglicization of LUIS.

[Cakem...@aol.com]

Hi Betty,

 

My grandfather, Francisco Jose Luiz from Faial, came to this country in the 1800's and by the 1900 census had changed his name to Frank J. Lewis.  Lewis has been the family name since.  However, the tombstone on the family plot in Sacrament, Ca. is inscribed Luiz.

 

Mary Ann

[John Raposo]

And there was the well known Azorean born American Alfred Lewis, author of "Home is an Island"

 

John Miranda Raposo

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[Cheri Mello]

Betty,

As Jason, Richard, and John said, it's Luiz.  Not Lewis.  Don't ask me where my brain was.

Cheri

[Lionel Holmes]

And sometimes LUIS.

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[eric edgar]

My family used Luiz as a surname. My mom's grandfather came form Flores as Manuel Luiz Noia. He had a cousin in California with the same name,  and other Manuel Noias in town, so he filed his citzenship papers without the Noia.

 

My grandfather used the Lewis spelling at times in the 30s and 40s.

 

Eric Edgar

[Lorinda Sevenans]

My grandfather was born in Vila do Topa, Sao Jorges and immigrated to California at age 10 with his widowed mother and two younger siblings. He was Joseph Souza Lewis. His birth certificate lists his father's name as ? Luiz (no first name). That's as far as I've gone so far in that line. His mother's name was Mary.

Just wanted to let you know that it's possible that the name was changed when they came to the US.

[Lorinda Sevenans]

Oops, that should be his DEATH certificate, not birth certificate.

[Pam Santos]

or Luis

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 4:28 PM, Kathleen Clark <katcl...@gmail.com> wrote:

So here is my roadblock. My Grandfather's name on the 1940 Census is Louis R Lewis.Is it it unlikely that Louis is his real first name? I am new to the Portuguese naming conventions, and new to family tree research. The R is for Raposo and he was born in the Azores around 1908. He had several brothers in the Oakland, CA area. Ted Lewis and Frank Lewis are names that my mother has mentioned. Other than that I am at a total dead end.

Thanks everyone for any help you can give.

Kathleen Clark

Researching: Lewis, George, Madeiros, Warren

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[eric edgar]

My mother's family surname is Luiz. That was her grandfather's middle name. He dropped the Noia when he came from Flores to California. Her father used Lewis for a time to sound more American.

IT wasn't used by any of the family in Flores, or seen on his baptism record, so I'll assume it was a confirmation name he choose.

Luiz is a spelling variation of Luis seen in Spain and Portugal and is seen as a surname, usually a compound one like da Costa Luiz. I've seen it more often in the western islands, Flores,  Pico, Faial. Those islands had more Flemish

settlers originally so spelling may have followed pronunciation. James Guill's Azores history book says it may have evolved from the Flemish, de Looze, or de Loose.

Eric Edgar

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 4:28 PM, Kathleen Clark <katcl...@gmail.com> wrote:

So here is my roadblock. My Grandfather's name on the 1940 Census is Louis R Lewis.Is it it unlikely that Louis is his real first name? I am new to the Portuguese naming conventions, and new to family tree research. The R is for Raposo and he was born in the Azores around 1908. He had several brothers in the Oakland, CA area. Ted Lewis and Frank Lewis are names that my mother has mentioned. Other than that I am at a total dead end.

Thanks everyone for any help you can give.

Kathleen Clark

Researching: Lewis, George, Madeiros, Warren

On Wednesday, January 25, 2012 9:10:51 AM UTC-8, Cheri Mello wrote:

--

[Lorinda Sevenans]

I also have a Lewis grandfather. He was born in Vila do Topo, Sao Jorges, Azore Islands in 1891 and came to the US in 1901 with his widowed mother and one older brother and a younger sister. The information I was given by a cousin is that the "Portuguese" surname was originally Luiz, but I can't find any records to back that up.

My dad's side of the family was EASY! (Mostly English with a smattering of German, Irish and Scottish.)  My mom's (the Portuguese side) not so much.  Good luck.

Lorinda Baker Sevenans

[Pam Santos]

I have in my file a Emily Lewis who married Joe Santos and moved to Santa Clara, CA In Hawaii she used Luis/Luiz but in California Lewis. Someone is researching this couple but I have not been able to get a response from them.

[Karen]

Lorinda,

I have the surname Luis in my line from Sao Jorge also.  Only they are from Ribeira Seca, parish of San Tiago. You may want to check there. My grandfather was Jose Texeira Luis.  

Sent from my iPhone

[pi...@dholmes.com]

I have many Luis ancestors. I think some are from Pico, but I know many are from Terceira, such as my Gonçalves Luís line. I have always considered it simply a first name used as a surname.

Here is my line:

Manuel Gonçalves Luís, son of Jacinto Gonçalves, the son of Luís Gonçalves.

So in this case, you can see it comes from a give name. There are no further Luís ancestors.

Another line is not nearly so clear:

Manuel Luís, son of Manuel Luís, son of another Manuel Luís

Another line:

João Ferreira Luís, grandson of Francisco Luís, son of Maria Luís, daughter of another Maria Luís, daughter of another Francisco Luís, which brings me back to about 1598.

Yea, as for conversion to English, it is normal to be Lewis. There is a Lewis park in the Pocket area in Sacramento, named after a Luís family.

Doug da Rocha Holmes
Sacramento, California
Pico & Terceira Genealogist
916-550-1618

www.dholmes.com

[eric edgar]

Kathleen, 

The Raposo name is the clue here. The 1935 Oakland city directories shows the family at 1634 E 32nd st as Lewis .  The attached draft card from 1917 will show John Lewis Raposa at that address. The 1930 census shows 

Louis J Raposa widowd 64 years old with John Jr and Louis Jr at the same address. The 1920 shows same family same address, Mary Rapsoa is the mother. California death index shows she died 4-18-27. Oakland Tribune for that day isn't

online, but thats wher to get the obit. 

The origin on draft card shows St Michaels, but the 1920 census shows all children after born in Honolulu, the 1930 shows Louis born California. The California Birth Index doesn't show him. 

1930 census 

http://search.ancestry.com/iexec?htx=View&r=an&dbid=6224&iid=4532328_00801&fn=Louis&ln=Repose&st=d&ssrc=&pid=17549537

1920 Census

http://search.ancestry.com/iexec?htx=View&r=an&dbid=6061&iid=4293690-00800&fn=John+L&ln=Raposa&st=d&ssrc=&pid=2461008

Louis' brothers from CA death index showing mothers maiden name and that Frank was born in Hawaii

LEWIS

JOSEPH

R

1894

06

19

FERNANDES

LEWIS

MALE

RE

ALAMEDA

1948

02

21

552097652

53

784124

LEWIS

JOHN

R

1893

04

05

FERNANDE

MALE

RE

ALAMEDA

1966

10

11

548035156

73

3110153

LEWIS

FRANK

R

1897

10

08

FERNANDE

MALE

HA

ALAMEDA

1968

10

03

552099495

70

3442501

So, it shows that family of Joao Luis Raposo left Sao Miguel for Hawaii with a few children, had another or more ( didn't track daughter Carrie) , left there about 1900 for California, had Louis here. Mother Mary Fernandes died in 1927

father died after 1930, but can't find his record. The family mostly stayed in Oakland. 

Happy Hunting

Eric Edgar

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 4:28 PM, Kathleen Clark <katcl...@gmail.com> wrote:

So here is my roadblock. My Grandfather's name on the 1940 Census is Louis R Lewis.Is it it unlikely that Louis is his real first name? I am new to the Portuguese naming conventions, and new to family tree research. The R is for Raposo and he was born in the Azores around 1908. He had several brothers in the Oakland, CA area. Ted Lewis and Frank Lewis are names that my mother has mentioned. Other than that I am at a total dead end.

Thanks everyone for any help you can give.

Kathleen Clark

Researching: Lewis, George, Madeiros, Warren

On Wednesday, January 25, 2012 9:10:51 AM UTC-8, Cheri Mello wrote:

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[AnneMarie]

Our Lewis family was from Topo on Sao Jorge... my grandfather swore that our last name was not ever spelt Luis or Luiz - that it was Lewis from the start.  We've hit a road block in our search - even going to the island - and getting documentation.  Has anyone else been told or seen evidence that Lewis was the original spelling? 

[Cheri Mello]

W does not exist in Portuguese, except in non-Portuguese words. So if your family emigrated from England under the spelling of Lewis, then they would keep that spelling. But if they were Portuguese, the current spelling would be Luis and the older Portuguese spelling would be Luiz.

Cheri Mello
Listowner, Azores-Gen
Researching: São Miguel island: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada

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[JesseAndDeborah Mendonca]

Not according to the baptismal and marriage records. Luiz was how it was written in 1838 on São Miguel.  Interestingly, the da Souza name was the original surname.  In a marriage record the priest went back three generations, listing the deceased great grandfather Luiz da Souza that caused the son to take the surname Luiz (to honor his father?).   They have used the Luiz surname ever since.   

My husband’s mother, born in 1909, and her younger brother used Louis in Hawaii, I suspect from school influence.  The other older siblings used Luiz, although all males seemed to have switched to Louis or Lewis after marriage and on official papers in the 1920s.   

Debbie Mendonca

On Wed, May 25, 2022 at 10:12 AM 'AnneMarie' via Azores Genealogy <azo...@googlegroups.com> wrote: