Travis

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Boy · Old French, through English

Travis

Say it: TRAV-iss

Try it with your surname

Meaning

From an English surname derived from Old French traverser 'to cross', probably for someone who collected tolls at a crossing.

Likelythe main view, with some doubt.

Used in the American South in honor of William B. Travis, it became a top-50 US name in the 1970s to 1990s.

Its wave through time

A fashion of the 1970s

In the United States

0246818801900192019401960198020002020Peak 1979per 1,000 babies of that sex
  • 306,476 babies given this name since 1880
  • At its height in 1979, about 1 in 156 boys
  • 951 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. The Age of Revolutions1750 to 1837
  2. The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

AmericanEnglish

The family of the name

Other spellings: Travers

Famous bearers

  • William B. Travis, commander at the Alamo
  • Travis Tritt, American country singer

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
  • National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.