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The English name SILLS (or varients Sill, Silson) is of patronymic origin, since it is derived from the first name of a father or ancester. In this case, the surname means "son of Sill", Sill being a diminutive of the personal name Silvester that derived from the Latin word meaning "forest dweller" (the name may this also be local in origin, deriving from the place from which a man lived or held land).
Records indicate that the English Name SILLS was widely used particularly in the counties of Lancashire, Cheshire, and Yorkshire. The earliest instances include Johannes Cyllson of whom there is reference in the Yorkshire Poll Tax for the year 1379, and Robert Sille, living in 1397, and recorded in "The Rolls of Burgesses at the Guilds Merchant of the Borough of Presion (Lancs and Ches. Red. Soc. 9, 1884).
The surname was established in the United States at an early date, with John Sills who was born in 1610, from Northumberland and settled in Massachutsetts in 1637. John Payne Sills who emigrated from Berkshire in 1861 is also recorded.
Blazon of Arms: Argent (Silver) a fesse engrailed sable fretty or, in chief a lion passant gules.
Translation: Argent signifies PEACE and SINCERITY. The fesse, a horizontal band on the Shield, is symbolic of the military belt worn in Feudal times. The color OR (yellow or Gold) signifies GENEROSITY and ELECSTION of MIND. GULES or Red, denotes Military Fortitude and Magnanimity and Sable or Black, denotes Constancy.
ORIGIN: ENGLAND.