Morris is a surname of various origins though mostly of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh origin. In 2014, the surname ranked 39 out of 104,537 in England, and 55 out of 400,980 in the USA. ^[1]

Origins

Britain

Morris is of Anglo-Norman origin and is a relationship name derived from the Middle English and Old French personal name Moreis, or Maurice (from the Latin Mauritius ‘Moorish, dark, swarthy’; from Maurus ‘a Moor’). ^{[2] [3]} It was the name of the 3rd Century Christian martyr Saint Maurice. ^[4] According to the 1881 Census, the vast majority of people with the surname Morris were located in Lancashire, England (8723; 2516 per million); with significant concentrations in London, Glamorgan, and the W. Midlands. Now more widespread across the UK, the majority can be found in London, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and Wales, with a total of 95,101 recorded across the country in 2016. ^{[5] [6] [7]} In Wales, Morris is an Anglicisation of the Welsh name Meurig, itself a Welsh variant of the Latin Mauritius (see also Morus and Morys), derived from the Anglo-Norman French form of the name. ^[8]

Ireland

Ó Muiris and, less commonly, de Moiréis in Irish; the Morris surname in Ireland is predominantly of Norman origin. It comes from the Norman "de Mareys", "de Marreis" and Latin "de Marisco", i.e., "of the marsh". It is a common surname in many parts of the south of Ireland, especially in Kilkenny, Tipperary, Offaly, Laois, Cork and Limerick, where it is now anglicised as Morris. A family of the name settled, in 1485, at Galway and became one of the Tribes of Galway. It may also refer to "descendant of Muiris" (sea-choice), a variant of Ó Muireasa. This was the name of a branch of the Uí Fiachrach who were formerly chiefs of a district on the southern shore of Sligo Bay, in the barony of Tireragh.^{[ citation needed]}

Germany

In some cases Morris is of German origin, as a variant of the German name Moritz.

Notable people with the surname "Morris"

Disambiguation of common given names with this surname

Arts and letters

Education

Politics, law, and government

Sciences

Sports

Other

Characters

• Archie Morris, a character in the television series ER
• Christine Morris, a character in the television series Christine Morris series
• Dinah Morris, a character in George Eliot's novel Adam Bede (1859)
• Lou Anthony Morris, a character in the British television series Friday Night Dinner
• Mr. Morris, a character in the television series Arthur
• Rhydian Morris, a character in the British television series Wolfblood
• Nikki Morris, a character in the 2004 video game Need for Speed: Underground 2, portrayed by Kelly Brook
• Quincey Morris, a character in Bram Stoker's horror novel Dracula (1897)
• Zack Morris, a character in the sitcoms Good Morning, Miss Bliss; Saved by the Bell, and Saved by the Bell: The College Years

See also

• Morris (given name)
• Morris family (disambiguation)
• Morris baronets
• Morriss, surname
• Maurice (disambiguation)
• Morrice

Notes

Surname list

This page lists people with the surname Morris.
If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.