The Sills surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 6,761 people carried this name — #5,171 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 43,700 people counted. About the same as in 2000 (6,729).

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What the name means

The meaning of the Sills surname

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a baptismal name, from a given name: ‘the son of Cecil’.

An early record he cites: Johannes Cyllson, 1379 — Poll Tax, West Riding of Yorkshire.

His entry covers Silson and Sills.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 691 · public domain.

In Argentina’s national register

At least 94 people named Sills live in Argentina.

RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Buenos Aires Province 94

RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.

In print

Sills in Australian newspapers,
1840s–1990s.

2,113 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Sills. The most, 784, date from the 1920s. Queensland has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in South Australia, at 2.0 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Queensland 671
New South Wales 525
South Australia 496
Victoria 282
Western Australia 66
Tasmania 62
ACT (Canberra) 9

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Sills.

Who carried it

People named Sills,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Milton Sills
    Milton Sills 1882–1930 · actor
  • Paul Sills
    Paul Sills 1927–2008 · playwright
  • Beverly Sills
    Beverly Sills 1929–2007 · actor
  • Francis Sills 1840–1919 · architect
  • Martha Sills-Fuchs 1896–1987 · writer
  • Arthur J. Sills 1917–1982 · politician

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Sills,
in the records of 4 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States480 records

480 records of the Sills name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 239
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 101
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 45
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 31
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 30
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 29
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 4
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record James E. Sills

    Born 1920 in Texas. Enlisted 1940 at San Antonio; office clerk from Bexar County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1983, buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, Texas.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Gesina Sills

    Arrived at New Orleans in 1853 aboard the Auguste from Bremen, aged 26; farmer. From Hanover, Germany; bound for Ohio.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
  3. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Darel Lee Sills

    Born 1941; from Salem, Oregon. U.S. Army, still photographic specialist; killed in action 1966 in South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)

Showing 3 of 480 records for Sills in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain).

Australia61 records

61 records of the Sills name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 25
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 23
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 7
  • Tasmanian Names Index 3
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 2
  • Canberra cemetery and marriage records 1
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record John Sills

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Mount Stewart Elphinstone, sailing from London in 1845. Native of Suffolk.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record John S. Sills

    Arrived in Victoria in 1858 aboard the Turon, aged 30; English.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Bertram John Sills

    Retired of Kyabram, Victoria; died 1978.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 61 records for Sills in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

Canada29 records

29 records of the Sills name in Canada
  • City of Niagara Falls (Ontario) cemetery records 10
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 8
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 7
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 2
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 1
  • Ontario immigration records, 1865–1883 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Elizabeth Sills

    Died 1936; buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, British Columbia.

    City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver.
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Harry Leo Sills

    Died 1973 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, aged 63.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  3. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record Joseph Herbert Sills

    Died in service in 1945.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Showing 3 of 29 records for Sills in Canada.

Counts: City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

United Kingdom2 records

2 records of the Sills name in the United Kingdom War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record S. C. Sills

    The Buffs (East Kent Regiment). Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  2. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record G. B. Sills

    Cestershire Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Sills.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Sills is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the Sills volume
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