Morege History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland
Wales

This old Welsh surname comes from the Latin personal name Mauritius, which means dark. In Britain, Maurice was the learned form of the name, while Morice was the common form. The surname Morris was likely also assumed as a surname after being a nickname for a dark or swarthy person.

Early Origins of the Morege family

The surname Morege was first found in Herefordshire, where they held a family seat from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Early History of the Morege family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Morege research. Another 115 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1660, 1663, 1670, 1672 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Morege History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Morege Spelling Variations

There are relatively few surnames native to Wales, but they have an inordinately large number of spelling variations. Early variations of Welsh surnames can be explained by the fact that very few people in the early Middle Ages were literate. Priests and the few other literate people were responsible for recording names in official documents. And because most people could not specific how to properly record their names it was up to the individual recorder of that time to determine how a spoken name should be recorded. Variations due to the imprecise or improper recording of a name continued later in history when names originally composed in the Brythonic Celtic, language of Wales, known by natives as Cymraeg, were transliterated into English. Welsh names that were documented in English often changed dramatically since the native language of Wales, which was highly inflected, did not copy well. Occasionally, however, spelling variations were carried out according to an individual's specific design: a branch loyalty within the family, a religious adherence, or even patriotic affiliations could be indicated by minor variations. The spelling variations of the name Morege have included Morris, Morriss, Moriss, Morrice, Morice, Moris and others.

Early Notables of the Morege family

Another 47 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Morege Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Morege family to Ireland

Some of the Morege family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 68 words (5 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Morege family

North America in the 1800s and 1900s saw the arrival of many Welsh people hoping to share in the wealth of land, work, and freedom that they felt North America held. Those who made the journey often attained those expectations, but only through an enormous amount of hard work, perseverance, and often a bout of good luck. These immigrants helped contribute to the growth of industry, commerce, and culture of both Canada and the United States. Discovered in the immigration and passenger lists were a number of people bearing the name Morege: Patrick Morris who settled in Philadelphia in 1852; George Morris settled in Virginia in 1774; Humphrey Morris settled in Barbados in 1635; Jenkin Morris settled in Virginia in 1635.