Morris
Masculine · “dark-skinned”
Morris is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 71,000 boys against 483 girls since 1880.
Morris is Maurice as English says it, and the Latin behind it means a Moor — a Roman byname for someone dark-skinned, which became a saint's name and then one of the commonest surnames in Wales.
How old is the name Morris?
Morris was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Morris alive today was born around 1933, making them about 92 years old. About 24,500 people named Morris are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Morris most popular?
Morris peaked in 1912, reaching #82 nationally. Today it ranks #1753, 1,671 places below that high. See the whole 1912 chart.
Morris appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Maurus to Morris
The story of Morris
Maurice of the Theban Legion was a third-century soldier-saint venerated widely across Europe, and the name spread from there. English used Maurice and wrote it Morris when spelling phonetically, which is why the surname is Morris and the given name Maurice. Wales took the name up especially strongly. American use of Morris rose through the nineteenth century and peaked around 1915.
Meaning
dark-skinned, Moorish
From the Latin Maurus, 'a Moor', used as a Roman byname for someone with a dark complexion, through the name Mauritius. The English morris dance takes its name from the same word, apparently from performers who blackened their faces; the two are the same root by different routes.
How the name formed
- Maurus
- Mauritius
- Maurice
- Morris
Related forms: Maurice · Maurizio · Mauricio · Meurig
Pronouncing Morris
MOR-iss
Two syllables, stress on the first. The French Maurice is said mo-REES, with the stress at the end.
Nicknames for Morris
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 19181,679 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #82reached in 1912
- Change vs 2022
- +1.1%92 in 2025, from 91
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Morris in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Maurice in French — related form
- Maurizio in Italian — related form
- Mauricio in Spanish — related form
- Meurig in Welsh — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, California, Texas.
Morriss among us
people named Morris are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 18,566 born in 2025 was named Morris
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Morris sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Morris is headed
Morris should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Morris beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Morris in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented soldier-saint with a wide European cult stands behind it.
- The spelling is phonetic for English readers, which Maurice is not.
- Cousins exist in French, Italian, Spanish and Welsh.
- The literal meaning describes a complexion, which some families will want to weigh.
- It reads as a surname to many people, and is period-coded to the early twentieth century.
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What they receive
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Morris
Masculine · #1753 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Morriss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 24,500 people named Morris are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Morris in 2025?
- Morris ranks #1753 among US boy names in 2025, with 92 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Morris?
- About 1 in every 18,566 US boys born in 2025 was named Morris — 92 in all.
- Will my child share the name Morris with classmates?
- Morris will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Morris
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ames#1753 · Yehoshua#1753 · Salomon#1753 · Akai#1753 · Keyler#1753 · Arley#1753 · Riaan#1753 · Zealand#1753
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Morris? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Morris and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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