select.surname.list

The surname Morris derived in England and Wales from the personal name Maurice which was introduced to Britain by the Normans.  Maurice, the name of some early Christian saints, was the learned spelling of the name.  Morice was its more common form.  Morris from Moorish could also have been a nickname for someone with a swarthy complexion.

Select Morris Resources on The Internet

• Morris Family Association.  Morris family association website.
• Morris Family Records.  Morris family and names in the UK and America.
• The Morris Branch.  US Morris genealogy.
• Morrises in Wales and America.  Morris family from Monmouth.

England.  Morris as a surname was first recorded in Herefordshire and has been a common name in the English border counties.  One of the earliest records of the name (reflecting the Welsh influence) was a Hugo Morys, son of Maurice ap Phelip, in the 1450 Shropshire rolls.  The main numbers of Morrises seem to have been in a line running north from Shropshire into Lancashire.

The root of the English folk "morris dancing" is said to have been the Spanish moresca dance from the Moors, which was first brought to the English court in the 16th century.

Wales.  The Morris first name - with its soft ending - brought from England seemed to have displaced the Welsh personal name Meurig - with its hard ending - sometime during the 15th century.  Many of the early Morrises were from north Wales, such as the Morris family of Llanfihangel Tre'r Beirdd in Anglesey.  Robert Morris moved south in the 1720's from Shropshire to help start a copper works in Swansea.  His son John built an industrial village for his workers called Morriston that still exists today.  Most Morrises today are to be found in south Wales.

Ireland.   There were Morrises of Anglo-Norman descent, one of the so-called fourteen "tribes of Galway." As far back as 1486 Richard Morris was recorded as a bailiff in Galway.  The Morris home was at Spiddal and they became Barons Killanin in the 19th century.  Morris in Ireland was also an anglicized form of the Gaelic O'Muirghis (variants of which also produced the surname Morrissey).

America.  An early Morris arrival in America was Richard Morris, a soldier in the English Civil War, who had come to New York and bought land in the Bronx.  This land was and is called Morrisania and the Morrises became important New York landowners who helped finance the Americans against the British in the Revolutionary War.  Samuel Morris of Philadelphia also distinguished himself during the War.  His great grandfather Anthony, a Quaker preacher, had immigrated there in 1685.

Later Morrises in America could be of English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish origin, or even of German or Jewish origin (from Moritz and like-sounding names).

Robert Morris, a merchant, was a financier of the Revolutionary War and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
William Morris was an artist and writer of the late 19th century, the founder of the English Arts and Crafts movement.  His firm devised the Morris chair.
William Morris, 1st Lord Nuffield, was a pioneer UK automobile manufacturer.

Desmond Morris is a well-known British zoologist through his TV appearances.
Jan Morris is the author and travel writer from Wales formerly known as James Morris.