Morris (surname)

Morris is a surname of various origins though mostly of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh origin. The name in some cases can be of German origin and even an Americanization of several Jewish surnames. The surname ranked 53 out of 88,799 in the United States and 32 out of 500 in England and Wales.

In England and Scotland, the name can be derived from the Old French personal name Maurice which was introduced to Britain by the Normans. It can also be derived from the Latin Mauritius, a derivative of Maurus. This name was used by several early Christian saints. The first Morrises in the British Isles were recorded as living in the bordering counties of Monmouthshire, Wales and Herefordshire, England by the Norman Conquest of 1066 CE. In Wales, Morris is an Anglicisation of the Welsh personal name Meurig (ultimately derived from Latin Mauritius). Additionally the name Morris is of Anglo-Norman origin deriving from the 'de Marisco' line. In some instances the surnames Morris has been seen to derive from Morres which is the plural topographical name for a 'family living on the Morre' (moors). It is not a coincidence that the greatest concentration of the Morris name in England is found around Bolton-le-Moors, Lancashire; a county where topographical and placename surnames dominate.

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