masc. proper name, also a surname (late 12c.), from an Old French word meaning "to cross over," related to traverse (v.). Probably a name for a gatekeeper or the toll collector of a bridge.
Entries linking to travis
traverse v.
early 14c., "pass across, over, or through," from Old French traverser "to cross, place across" (11c.), from Vulgar Latin *traversare, from Latin transversare "to cross, throw across," from Latin transversus "turn across" (see transverse). As an adjective from early 15c. Related: Traversed; traversing.