Murphy

Murphy
Family name
Meaning	"sea-warrior"
Region of origin	Ireland
Language(s) of origin	Irish
Related names	Murchadh, Murphey, MacMurphy, MacMurrough, Morphy, O'Morchoe, O'Murphy, Murray, Morrow, MacMorrow

Murphy is an Anglicized version of two Irish surnames: Ó Murchadha/Ó Murchadh ("descendant of Murchadh"), and Mac Murchaidh/Mac Murchadh ("son of Murchadh") derived from the Irish personal name Murchadh, which meant "sea-warrior" or "sea-battler". (Muir meaning "sea" and cath meaning "battle").

It is said of Murrough (Murchadh) as he entered the thick of the fight and prepared to assail the foreign invaders, the Danes, when they had repulsed the Dal-Cais, that 'he was seized with a boiling terrible anger, an excessive elevation and greatness of spirit and mind. A bird of valour and championship rose in him, and fluttered over his head and on his breath.

In modern Irish, "Ó Murchú", rather than "Ó Murchadha", is used.

Murphy is the most common surname in Ireland, the fourteenth most common surname in Northern Ireland and the fifty-eighth most common surname in the United States.

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