JERRY LEWIS

As a boy's name this is a pet form of Jeremy or Gerald, or occasionally of Gerard and Jerome. As a girl's name it is a variant spelling of Gerry, and is sometimes bestowed as an independent given name, as in the case of the American model and actress Jerry Hall (b. 1956).

English (but most common in Wales): from Lowis, Lodovicus, a Norman personal name composed of the Germanic elements hlod ‘fame’ + wīg ‘war’. This was the name of the founder of the Frankish dynasty, recorded in Latin chronicles as Ludovicus and Chlodovechus (the latter form becoming Old French Clovis, Clouis, Louis, the former developing into German Ludwig). The name was popular throughout France in the Middle Ages and was introduced to England by the Normans. In Wales it became inextricably confused with 2.