Geneanet > Resources > Family Names > MORRIS

Origin and popularity of the name MORRIS

Origin

Morris : 1: English and Scottish: from Maurice an Old French personal name introduced to Britain by the Normans. It is derived from Latin Mauritius a derivative of Maurus (see Moore). This was the name of several early Christian saints. In some cases it may be a nickname of the same derivation for someone with a swarthy complexion.2: Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Muirghis a variant of Ó Muirgheasa (see Morrissey).3: Welsh: Anglicized form of the personal name Meurig (from Latin Mauritius) which was gradually superseded in Wales by Morus Morys a derivative of the Anglo-Norman French form of the name (see 1 above).4: German: variant of Moritz and in North America (also) an altered form of this.5: Americanized form of French Maurice a cognate of 1 above.6: Americanized form of various like-sounding Jewish surnames (see Morse).

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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England

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Last name frequency

Geographic distribution of the 204,417 individuals with the name MORRIS on Geneanet.

 

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    This last name in the family trees

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    lewiscj
    (1,360 individuals)
    tdowling
    (954 individuals)
    wbuchanan
    (954 individuals)
    samueltaylorgeer
    (928 individuals)

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    Variants of name MORRIS

    MORRRIS MORRISS MORRISH NORRIS NORRISS NORRES