Language(s) | Welsh, Gaelic |
---|---|
Origin | |
Region of origin | Wales |
Other names | |
Variant form(s) | Morganach, Ó Muireagáin, Morgant |
Morgan is a surname of Welsh origin.
Principally a Welsh name, Morgan is derived from the Old Welsh personal name Morcant, which is of an uncertain origin. [1] In Wales, Morgan was a powerful Welsh family established c. 1330 by Morgan ap Llewelyn (son of Llewelyn ap Ifor, Lord of St. Clere, and Angharad, daughter and heiress of Sir Morgan ap Maredudd, Lord of Tredegar). It is possible the name was derived from the Cornovii Tribe who lived in the North of Scotland and in the Severn Valley, near the Wrekin in Shropshire. The County of Glamorgan is named after the Morgan Princes of South Wales. The term for water sprites in Welsh is morgans . [2]
In Ireland, Morgan is an anglicised form of Irish Gaelic Ó Muireagáin meaning 'descendant of Muireagán', a clan who were lords of Teffia in County Westmeath and County Longford. [3]
Clan Morgan is the designation for the Mackays of the Reay Country and the surname is also found in Aberdeenshire. The Pictish form is Morgunn. [4]
At the time of the British Census of 1881, [5] the frequency of the surname "Morgan" was highest in Brecknockshire (over 16 times the national average), followed by Monmouthshire, Glamorgan, Carmarthenshire, Radnorshire, Montgomeryshire, Cardiganshire, Pembrokeshire, Herefordshire, and Shropshire.
Blake is a surname which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin. Another theory, presumably in the belief it is a Welsh patronymic in origin, for which there is no evidence, was that it is a corruption of "Ap Lake", meaning "Son of Lake".
Donaldson is a Scottish and Irish patronymic surname meaning "son of Donald". It is a simpler Anglicized variant for the name MacDonald. Notable people with the surname include:
Carr is a common surname in northern England, a variant of Kerr, meaning "brushwood wet ground" in Middle English. The Old Norse kjarr means a "brushwood, thicket or copse" and may also come from the ancient Norse Kjarr translation meaning Kaiser from Caesar Kerr is also a Scottish variant, often from the Norse and from the Gaelic ciar, meaning "dusky". Carr is also a common surname in Ireland, where it often derives from the nickname, gearr, meaning "short of height". In some cases it is thought to come from the Welsh word cawr, meaning giant. Alternatively, in Ireland and Scotland, it may derive from the Irish and Scottish Gaelic cearr meaning pointed spear.
Ellis is a surname of Welsh and English origin. An independent French origin of the surname is said to derive from the phrase fleur-de-lis. It has also been noted to be a Jewish surname.
Cooper is a surname.
Watkins is an English and Welsh surname derived as a patronymic from Watkin, in turn a diminutive of the name Watt, a popular Middle English given name itself derived as a pet form of the name Walter.
Griffiths is a surname with Welsh origins, as in Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr. People named Griffiths include:
Edwards is a patronymic surname of English origin, meaning "son of Edward". Edwards is the 14th most common surname in Wales and 21st most common in England. Within the United States, it was ranked as the 49th-most common surname as surveyed in 1990, falling to 51st in 2014.
Riley is a surname of English origin, as well as an Anglicized version of an Irish surname.
Thomas is a common surname of English, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, French, German, Dutch, and Danish origin.
The surname Burns has several origins. In some cases, it derived from the Middle English or Scots burn, and originated as a topographic name for an individual who lived by a stream. In other cases the surname is a variant form of the surname Burnhouse, which originated as a habitational name, derived from a place name made up of the word elements burn and house. In other cases the surname Burns originated as a nickname meaning "burn house". In other cases, the surname Burns is an Anglicised form of the Irish Ó Broin, which means "descendant of Bran". In some cases the surname Burns is an Americanized form of the Jewish surname Bernstein, which is derived from the German bernstein ("amber").
Richards is a Celtic Welsh, or Cornish surname based on the English version of the parent's name ending in -S. In 1881 people with this surname were mainly located in Wales, Cornwall and adjacent South-West counties of England. By 1998 many Welsh and Cornish people had migrated to cities in England particularly those adjacent to these areas. The name is derived from the Germanic ric ("power") and hard ("brave"/"hardy").
Ward is a surname of either Old English or Old Gaelic origin, common in English-speaking countries.
Rowland is an English surname.
Crawford is a surname and a given name of English and Scottish origins.
Fox is a surname originating in England and Ireland. Variants include Foxe and Foxx.
Barrett is a surname of Norman origin, now found commonly in England and Ireland due to the Norman Invasion; its meaning translates loosely to "warlike" or "troublesome".
Oliver is a surname derived from the personal name Oliver. The Scottish Oliver family was a sept of the Scotland Highlands' powerful Clan Fraser of Lovat. There are many different Oliver families in North America.
Madden is the Anglicized surname of Madadhan of Irish origin, meaning "hound". It is also a less popular, gender-neutral given name.