Murphy
Language(s) | Irish |
---|---|
Origin | |
Meaning | Sea Warrior |
Region of origin | Ireland |
Other names | |
Variant form(s) | Murchadh, Murphey, MacMurphy, MacMurrough, Morphy, O'Morchoe, O'Murphy, Ó Murchú, Murray, Morrow, MacMorrow, Murfoir, Murpy |
Origins and variants
The surname is a variant of two Irish surnames: "Ó Murchadha"/"Ó Murchadh" (descendant of "Murchadh"), and "Mac Murchaidh"/"Mac Murchadh" (son of "Murchadh")[1] derived from the Irish personal name "Murchadh", which meant sea-warrior or sea-battler[2] (muir meaning sea and cath meaning battle).[3]
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.[4]
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.[5]
People with the surname
Men
- Aaron James Murphy (born 1992), New Zealand actor
- Anthony Murphy (cricketer) (born 1962), English cricketer
- Arthur Murphy (disambiguation)
- Audie Murphy (1925–1971), American war hero and actor
- Austin J. Murphy (born 1927), Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania
- Barnes Murphy (born 1947), former Gaelic footballer
- Bos Murphy (1924–2000), New Zealand boxer
- Brian Murphy (disambiguation)
- Buddy Murphy, Australian professional wrestler
- Byron Murphy (born 1998), American football player
- Calvin Murphy (born 1948), American retired basketball player
- Charles Murphy (disambiguation)
- Chris Murphy (Connecticut politician) (born 1973), United States Senator from Connecticut
- Ciarán Murphy, Irish T.D.
- Cillian Murphy (born 1976), Irish actor
- Colin Murphy (disambiguation)
- Colm Murphy (born 1952), Irish alleged suspect in the Omagh bombing
- Conor Murphy, Sinn Féin politician in Northern Ireland
- Dale Murphy (born 1956), American retired baseball player
- Dale D. Murphy, professor at Georgetown University
- Daniel Murphy (disambiguation)
- Darren Murphy (born 1985), Irish footballer
- Darren Murphy (Australian rules footballer) (born 1964)
- Darren Murphy (1961–2012), bassist with the British punk rock/post-punk band Wasted Youth
- Daryl Murphy, Irish football player
- David Murphy (disambiguation)
- Derek Murphy (born 1968), American rapper better known as Sadat X
- Dick Murphy (born 1942), American retired Republican politician
- Donald E. Murphy (born 1960), American Republican politician
- Donnie Murphy (born 1983), American baseball player
- Eddie Murphy (disambiguation)
- Edward Murphy (disambiguation)
- Elliott Murphy (born 1949), American singer/songwriter
- Erik Murphy (born 1990), American–Finnish basketball player
- Everett J. Murphy (1852–1922), politician
- Francis Murphy (disambiguation)
- Frank Murphy (disambiguation)
- Fred Murphy (disambiguation)
- Gary Murphy (1971) Irish mathematician and inventor of the Dyson shirt dryer
- Geoff Murphy (1938–2018), New Zealand filmmaker
- Geoffrey Mostyn Murphy (1922–2011), Australian boxer, better known as Tommy Burns
- Glen Murphy (1957), British actor
- George Murphy (1902–1992), American dancer, actor, and Republican Senator
- Henry Murphy (disambiguation)
- Isaac Murphy (1802–1882), Republican Governor of Arkansas
- Isaac Burns Murphy (1861–1896), American Hall-of-Fame jockey
- Isaiah Murphy, a.k.a. Shinsaku Enomoto, (born 1998), Japanese basketball player
- Jack Murphy (disambiguation)
- Jacob Murphy (born 1995), English footballer
- James Murphy (disambiguation), people named James or Jimmy
- Jim Murphy (disambiguation)
- John Murphy (disambiguation)
- Joseph Murphy (disambiguation)
- Josh Murphy (born 1995), English footballer
- Kevin Murphy (disambiguation)
- Lambert Murphy (1885–?), American operatic tenor
- Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr. (born 1974), American singer, winner of season 6 of America's Got Talent
- Larry Murphy (disambiguation)
- Lawrence Murphy (disambiguation)
- Lionel Murphy (born 1922), Australian politician and jurist
- Loren E. Murphy (1882–1963), American jurist
- Marc Murphy (born 1987), Australian rules footballer
- Mark Murphy (disambiguation)
- Martin Murphy (disambiguation)
- Matt Murphy (disambiguation)
- Maurice Murphy (actor) (1913-1978), American actor
- Michael Murphy (disambiguation), people named Michael, Mick or Mike
- Mickey Murphy (born 1985), Gaelic footballer
- Nicholas Murphy (born 1978), Gaelic footballer
- Nicholas Daniel Murphy (1811–1890), Irish politician from Cork, Member of Parliament (MP) 1865–1880
- Nick Murphy (disambiguation)
- Oakes Murphy (1849–1908), two-time Governor of Arizona Territory
- Pat Murphy (disambiguation)
- Patricia Murphy (disambiguation)
- Patrick Murphy (disambiguation)
- Paul Murphy (disambiguation)
- Peter Murphy (disambiguation)
- Phil Murphy (disambiguation), people named Phil, Philip or Phillip
- Richard Murphy (disambiguation), people named Richard, some nicknamed Dick
- Robert Murphy (disambiguation), people named Robert, Rob, Bob or Bobby
- Roger P. Murphy, American legislator and jurist
- Ryan Murphy (footballer) (born 1985)
- Ryan Murphy (writer), American television writer, director and producer
- Scott Murphy, American entrepreneur and politician
- Scott Murphy (video game designer), a programmer behind the Space Quest series
- Sean Murphy (disambiguation)
- Shaun Murphy (disambiguation)
- Shawn Murphy (disambiguation)
- Stephen Murphy (disambiguation)
- Sydney Murphy (born 1960), Vincentian retired cricketer
- Timothy Murphy (disambiguation), people named Timothy or Tim
- Thomas Murphy (disambiguation), people named Thomas or Tom
- Trent Murphy (2013), outside linebacker in the National Football League; played for the Washington Redskins and Buffalo Bills
- Troy Murphy, power forward for the Boston Celtics
- Vincent B. Murphy, NYS Comptroller 1925–1926
- Vincent J. Murphy, Mayor of Newark 1941–1949
- Wendell H. Murphy, American politician
- William Murphy (disambiguation),
- Yale Murphy (1869–1906), American baseball player
- Yo Murphy (born 1971), American former football player
Women
- Brittany Murphy (1977–2009), American actress
- Dervla Murphy (born 1931), travel writer
- Carolyn Murphy (born 1975), American model
- Diana E. Murphy (1934-2018), American judge
- Donna Murphy (born 1958), American Tony Award-winning actress
- Erin Murphy (disambiguation)
- Gail C. Murphy, Canadian computer scientist
- Gillian Murphy, principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre
- Jess Murphy, New Zealand-born chef based in Galway, Ireland
- Julie Murphy (singer) (born 1961), Welsh singer
- Julie Murphy (author), American novelist
- Kelly Murphy (born 1977), American author and illustrator
- Margaret Mary Healy Murphy (1833–1907), American Catholic nun
- Mary Murphy (disambiguation)
- Róisín Murphy (born 1973), Irish electronica singer, songwriter, and producer
- Shaun Murphy (singer), a.k.a. Stoney, American singer
- Stephanie J. Murphy, American veterinary scientist
- Tammy Murphy (born 1965), American banker
Fictional characters
- Murphy Cooper, in Interstellar (film)
- Captain Murphy from the Adult Swim animated series Sealab 2021
- Alex James Murphy, the police officer who became RoboCop
- Alexis "Lex" Murphy, in the film Jurassic Park
- Frank, Sue, Bill, Kevin, and Maureen Murphy from the Netflix original F Is for Family
- "Bleeding Gums" Murphy, on the cartoon TV series The Simpsons
- Bridey Murphy, historical character in a hypnotic regression case detailed in Bernstein's The Search for Bridey Murphy
- Colin Murphy (fiction), in the American soap opera Days of Our Lives
- Connor Murphy, from the musical Dear Evan Hansen
- Eric Murphy, in the HBO series Entourage
- Frank Murphy, in the movie Blue Thunder (1983)
- Hank Murphy, in the TV series Sullivan & Son (2012)
- John Murphy, in the TV series The 100
- Karrin Murphy, in Jim Butcher's novel series The Dresden Files (named Connie Murphy in the TV series of the same title)
- Milo Murphy, in the American animated TV series Milo Murphy's Law
- Professor Michael Murphy, the protagonist in the Babylon Rising series by Dr Tim LaHaye
- Randle Patrick McMurphy, one of the main characters in Ken Kesey's novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962)
- Ray Murphy, birth name of Gino Esposito, in the Australian soap opera Neighbours
- Sean Murphy (Oz), in the HBO TV drama series Oz
- Susan Murphy, aka Ginormica, one of the main protagonists of the film Monsters vs. Aliens
- Sergeant Murphy, a fictional character in the Richard Scarry books
References
- Brewer, Paul (2002). Ireland: History, People, Culture. Running Press. p. 351. ISBN 0-7624-1269-0.
- MacLysaght, Edward (1991). The Surnames of Ireland. Irish Academic Press. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-7165-2366-6.
- Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 352, 406, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1
- Hennessey, W M. The Ancient Irish Goddess of War. Library of Alexandria. p. 307. ISBN 978-1-6131-0276-3.
- "Genealogy Data: Frequently Occurring Surnames from Census 2000". Census.gov. Archived from the original on 21 December 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
External links
- Official Home of the Murphy Clan, including a wealth of historical content about Ireland's Murphy Clan such as clan history, famous people, homelands, genealogy, discussion forums and blog articles.