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.[1] The surname ranked 53 out of 88,799 in the United States and 32 out of 500 in England and Wales.[2]

Origins

Britain

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.[3] In Wales, Morris is an Anglicisation of the Welsh personal name Meurig (ultimately derived from Latin Mauritius).[1] Additionally the name Morris is of Anglo-Norman origin deriving from the "de Marisco" line (meaning "of the marsh" in modern English[4]). 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.

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.

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
  • John Turner MacGregor-Morris (1872–1959), British engineer, professor of electrical engineering at Queen Mary University of London
  • A. J. A. Morris (Andrew James Anthony Morris), British historian
  • Benny Morris (born 1948), Israeli historian
  • Bonnie J. Morris (born 1961), American women's studies professor
  • Charlotte P. Morris, American academic administrator
  • Effie Morris (1921–2009), American librarian and educator
  • Ivan Morris (1925–1976), British author and teacher in the field of Japanese studies
  • Jeremy Morris (born 1960), British historian, Church of England priest
  • Joe Hall Morris, American oral surgeon, chairman of the Oral Surgery Department at the University of Tennessee (1966–1988)
  • Lawrence Morris, chief of staff and counselor to the president at The Catholic University of America
  • Leon Morris (1914–2006), Australian New Testament scholar
  • Myron Newton Morris (1810–1885), American educator, politician and Congregationalist minister, principal of Bacon Academy (1837–1838, 1840–1843), member of the Connecticut House of Representatives (1872, 1875)
  • Norman Morris (1920–2008), British obsterician
  • Norval Morris (1923–2004), Australian and American law professor, criminologist
  • R. O. Morris (Reginald Owen Morris; 1886–1948), British composer and teacher
  • Victor Pierpont Morris (1891–1974), professor (1926–1959), dean (1936–1957) and interim president (1953–1954) of the University of Oregon

Politics, law, and government
  • Anne Marie Morris (born 1957), British politician, member of the House of Commons (from 2010)
  • Augustus Morris (1820–1895), Australian politician, member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
  • Barry Morris (1935–2001), Australian politician
  • Brewster Morris (1909–1990), United States Ambassador to Chad (1963–1967)
  • Bruce Morris, American politician, Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives (from 2007)
  • Buckner Stith Morris (1800–1879), Mayor of Chicago (1838–1839)
  • Basil Morris (1888–1975), Australian general, military administrator of Papua (1942–1946)
  • Cadwalader Morris (1741–1795), American merchant and politician, delegate for Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress (1783, 1784)
  • Calvary Morris (1798–1871), U.S. Representative from Ohio (1837–1843)
  • Clifford Morris (born 1942), British Labour politician, leader of Bolton Council (2006–2018)
  • Corbyn Morris (1710–1779), English commissioner of the customs and economic writer
  • Daniel Morris (1812–1889), U.S. Representative
  • Deborah Morris (born 1970), member of the New Zealand House of Representatives (1996–1999)
  • Dick Morris (born 1948), American political author, newspaper columnist, and commentator
  • Earle Morris Jr. (1928–2011), American Democratic politician, Lieutenant-Governor of South Carolina (1971–1975)
  • Estelle Morris (born 1952), British politician and member of the House of Lords
  • Floyd Morris (born 1969), President of the Senate of Jamaica (2013–2016)
  • G. Delbert Morris (1909–1987), American Republican politician, member of the California State Assembly (1948–1956)
  • Gouverneur Morris (1752–1816), American statesman, and diplomat
  • Grahame Morris (born 1961), British politician, member of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom (from 2010)
  • Greta N. Morris, United States Ambassador to the Republic of the Marshall Islands (2003–2006)
  • Gwladys Evan Morris (1879–1957), Welsh stage actress and writer
  • Harvey R. Morris (1807–1886), New York politician
  • Ira Nelson Morris (1883–1942), American diplomat, Minister to Sweden (1914–1923)
  • Isaac N. Morris (1812–1879), United States Representative from Illinois (1857–1861)
  • J. Clyde Morris (1909–1987), American civil servant, only city manager of City of Warwick, Virginia (1952–1958)
  • James Morris (born 1967), British politician, member of the House of Commons (from 2010)
  • Jay Morris (born 1958), American, businessman, attorney and politician, Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives (from 2012)
  • Jerry Morris (Jeremiah Noah Morris; 1910–2009), British epidemiologist and cardiologist
  • Jill Morris, British Ambassador to Italy (from 2016)
  • Kiah Morris (born 1976), Vermont politician
  • Kindred Jenkins Morris (1819–1884), American Democratic politician, Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee (1869–1871)
  • Kirk Morris (born 1946), Italian bodybuilder and actor
  • Leland B. Morris (1886–1950), American diplomat, U.S. Ambassador to Iceland (1942–1944) and to Iran (1944–1945)
  • Leslie Morris (1904–1964), Welsh-Canadian politician, general secretary of the Communist Party of Canada (1962–1964)
  • Lorenzo Morris (1817–1903), New York politician
  • Logan Morris (1889–1977), judge of the United States Board of Tax Appeals
  • Luzon B. Morris (1827–1895), American lawyer and politician, 55th Governor of Connecticut (1893–1895)
  • Lyndon Henry Morris (1889–1946), Devon chief constable (1931–1946)
  • Malcolm Morris (1913–1972), English lawyer
  • Mathias Morris (1787–1839), Anti-Jacksonian and Whig member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
  • Milton Morris (1924–2019), Australian politician, Member of the New South Wales Parliament (1956–1980), New South Wales Minister for Transport (1965–1975)
  • Mount Etna Morris (1900–1988), American politician, State Treasurer of Missouri (1949–1953, 1957–1961, 1965–1969)
  • Naomi E. Morris (1921–1986), American jurist, Chief Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals (1978–1982)
  • Newbold Morris (1902–1966), American politician, lawyer, president of the New York City Council (1938–1945)
  • Oscar Morris (1876–1939), American politician, member of the Wisconsin State Senate (1921–1938)
  • Patricia Morris, Baroness Morris of Bolton (born 1954), British peer, Shadow Minister for Women, Opposition Whip for the Conservative Party
  • Percy Morris (1893–1967), British railway clerk, trade unionist and politician, member of Parliament (1945–1959)
  • Rhys Hopkin Morris (1888–1956), Welsh Liberal politician, Member of Parliament (1923–1932, (1945–1956)
  • Rien Morris, Marshallese politician
  • Roland Sletor Morris (1874–1945), U.S. Ambassador to Japan (1917–1920)
  • Staats Long Morris (1728–1800), major-general in the British army during the American Revolution, Governor of Quebec (1797–1800)
  • Stuart Morris, Australian lawyer, Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria (2003–2007)
  • Tim Morris (Timothy Bryce Morris; born 1955), Australian politician, member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly (2002–2014)
  • Toby Morris (1899–1973), American politician, U.S. Representative from Oklahoma (1947–1953, 1957–1961)
  • Timothy Morris (born 1958), British diplomat, ambassador to Morocco and Mauritania (2008–2012), the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo (temporary, 2014–2015), and South Sudan (2015–2017)
  • Trefor Morris (born 1934), British law enforcer, Chief Inspector of Constabulary (1993–1996)
  • Valentine Morris (1727–1789), British landowner and politician, Governor of St. Vincent (1772–1779)
  • Wolfe Morris (born Woolf Steinberg; 1925–1996), English actor
  • Owen Temple-Morris (1896–1985), British barrister and Conservative politician, member of Parliament (1931–1942)

Sciences

Sports

Other

Characters

See also

Notes
  1. Morris Name Meaning and Origin Retrieved on 2007-12-31
  2. Behind the Name: Morris Retrieved on 2009-04-16
  3. url=http://www.houseofnames.com/fc.asp?sId=&s=morris
  4. url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Marisco,_Geoffrey_de_(DNB00)
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