Morrow is an anglicized surname of Irish or Scottish origins.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Morrow
Language(s)Gaelic
Origin
Word/nameMoireach, Moireabh
MeaningCoastal Settlement
Region of originIreland or Scotland
Other names
Variant form(s)Moray, MacMorrow, Murrow, Morrowson, Moorow, Morowe, Moireach

Scottish

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Originating in the Scottish Lowlands the name is ultimately Gaelic, from Moireach or Moireabh, meaning a 'seafarer' or a 'coastal settlement'; most probably derived from the placename Moray in northern Scotland, by merit of being, at times, a variation of Murray. It may also be patronymic, from Murchadh, meaning 'sea warrior'. It has been variously spelt Morow, Morro, Morwe, Murrow, and Morrewe, the latter being first found on the Ragman Rolls of 1296.[9][10][11][12] Some of the earliest recorded of the name were the Dumfries-born, Thomas Morrow, abbot of Paisley between 1418 and 1444,[11] Duncan Morrow, witness to an ordination in 1503 at Kirkinner, Wigtownshire,[13] Walter Morrow, a member of the convent at Kelso, Roxburghshire in 1548,[14][15] and Davy Morrow, bailie of Annan in 1592.[16][17] During the 17th Century, the Morrow name was brought to Ireland as a result of the plantation of Ulster; during which many Scots, mostly Lowlanders, settled in the north of Ireland.[18][19][20] A number of Morrows who served in the Covenanter army were transported to Virginia after being captured by Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester in 1651.[21][22]

Irish

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The name is suspected to have been used to anglicize a number of Irish Gaelic names, mainly surnames which include muir, meaning sea, which were also made as Morrogh, Murrow and Moroghoe. In Petty's Census of 1659, O'Morrow and McMarrowe are recorded. However, it is more common for these Irish names to have been anglicized as 'McMorrow' rather than the Scottish 'Morrow' on its own.

Notable people

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Fictional characters

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References

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  1. ^ The Morrows and Related Families, Dr. J. T. Morrow
  2. ^ Irish Pedigrees, John O'Hart
  3. ^ Some Anglicised surnames in Ireland, Padraig Mac Giolla Domhnaigh
  4. ^ The Scotch-Irish in America, Henry Ford Jones
  5. ^ The Scot in Ulster. Sketch of the history of the Scottish population of Ulster (1888), John Harrison
  6. ^ In memoriam, John Morrow Cochran, Jere Morrow Cochran
  7. ^ Edwin P. Morrow--Kentuckian: A Contemporaneous Biographical Sketch, Willard Rouse Jillson
  8. ^ Dictionary of Surnames (1994), Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges
  9. ^ "Ragman Rolls - "M"".
  10. ^ Ludus Patronymicus, Richard Stephen Charnock
  11. ^ a b A Scots Mediaeval Architect (1895), P. MacGregor Chalmers
  12. ^ The Scotch-Irish : or, The Scot in North Britain, north Ireland, and North America, Charles A. Hanna
  13. ^ History of the Chapel Royal of Scotland, Rev. Charles Rogers, 1882
  14. ^ The County of Roxburgh, Vol. II, Royal Commission on the Ancient Monunents of Scotland
  15. ^ Precept directed to Alexander Bertoun, Florentine Corntoun, and David Marche, 30th July 1548, Edinburgh University Library Special Collections, The Laing Collection, Section V, 854–1837
  16. ^ The Aglionby Platt, 1592
  17. ^ Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Antiquity, Society of Antiquaries of London, Vol. 22, 1829
  18. ^ The Scot in Ulster, J. Harrison, 1888
  19. ^ The Scottish Migration to Ulster in the Reign of James I, M. Perceval-Maxwell, 1973
  20. ^ The Scots in Ulster, Rev. Dr. David Stewart, 2015 (reprint)
  21. ^ Scottish Surnames in Colonial America, David Dobson
  22. ^ The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volumes 1-2, Rev. William Cogswell, 1847
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