Civis (surname)

The surname Civis is an ancient surname that is derived from Latin and means Citizen. It has the same root as the words civil, civilized, civilian and civic. In ancient times it implied a Roman Citizen, as contrasted to a military person, and was perhaps most famously uttered by the Roman Senator Cicero, who said, "Civis Romanus sum," meaning, "I am a Roman Citizen." Whether or not the surname Civis as currently used implies descent from a Roman fore bearer, or whether it arose 'de novo' from Central European citizenship records that were kept in Latin is not known, but certainly there are records going back many hundreds of years that attest to people with the last name of Civis.

The name is not common, but is well known in Central Europe, especially in the Czech Republic and other countries that were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Many people with the surname Civis had the rank of Zeman (nobleman) in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which is the lowest rank of hereditary nobility.

In the United States, the name is sometimes alternately spelled as Civish, since the terminal S in Civis (Civiš) had an SH sound in many of the Slavic languages.