Amos

1. Jewish: from the Hebrew personal name Amos, of uncertain origin, in some traditions connected with the Hebrew verb amos ‘to carry’, and assigned the meaning ‘borne by God’. This was the name of a Biblical prophet of the 8th century BC, whose oracles are recorded in the Book of Amos. This was one of the Biblical names taken up by Puritans and Nonconformists in the 16th-17th centuries, too late to have had much influence on surname formation, except in Wales.

2. English: variant of Amis, assimilated in spelling to the Biblical name. It occurs chiefly in southeastern England.

See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.