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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.
The surname Moris 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.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Moris research. Another 115 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1660, 1663, 1670, 1672 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Moris History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
The Welsh have an extremely large amount of spelling variations of their native surnames to their credit. It was up to the priest or the scribe taking the official records to determine how the spoken name was to be made literal. As time progressed, the old Brythonic names of Wales were recorded in English, which was especially problematic since the English language had extreme difficulty recording the highly inflected sounds of Cymraeg. Spelling variations were, however, also carried out according to an individual's design: a branch loyalty within the family, a religious adherence, or even patriotic affiliations could be indicated by spelling variations of one's name. The spelling variations of the name Moris have included Morris, Morriss, Moriss, Morrice, Morice, Moris and others.
Another 47 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Moris Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
In the United States, the name Moris is the 18,550th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1
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.
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 Moris:
