Ames

Family name origins & meanings

• English : from the Old French and Middle English personal name Amys, Amice, which is either directly from Latin amicus ‘friend’, used as a personal name, or via a Late Latin derivative of this, Amicius.
• German : of uncertain origin. Perhaps a nickname for an active person, from a Germanic word related to Old High German amazzig ‘busy’. Compare modern German Ameise ‘ant’.
• William Ames, the son of Richard Ames of Bruton, Somerset, came to Braintree, MA, from England in about 1640. He had numerous prominent descendants.