Morris

Meaning: Moor, dark, swarthy
Origin: Latin — Medieval English form of Maurice

Boy's name · #1762 in the US (2025) · Vintage

Popularity over time

Morris is an heirloom: its strongest era came around 1912, when it ranked #82. It has thinned since but never left the records — about 71,000 boys since 1880, ranked #1762 today. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Across the states

See where Morris is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 5 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

See how Morris ranks in other countries and regions.

#28 in Netherlands (2025) · #78 in Belgium (2025) · #610 in Sweden (2025) · #1,137 in Italy (2024) · #1,705 in England & Wales (2025) · #1,808 in Switzerland (2025) · #2,967 in Austria (2025) · #3,153 in Canada (2025) · #707 in Scotland (2016) · #7,917 in Ecuador (2016) · #699 in Ireland (2015) · #3,891 in France (2002) and 1 more.

Famous Morrises

Morris — Belgian comics artist (1923–2001)
Morris Swadesh — American linguist (1909–1967)
Morris West — Australian writer (1916–1999)
Morris Chestnut — American actor (born 1969)
Morris Travers — English chemist (1872–1961)

As a surname

It is also an American family name — about 319,000 people carried it as a surname in the 2010 census.

William Morris — English textile artist, author, and socialist (1834–1896)
Desmond Morris — English zoologist, ethologist and artist (1928–2026)
Heather Morris — American actress, dancer, and singer (born 1987)

In stories & tradition

Morris (Hydro-Man) — Marvel Comics supervillain
Morris (Moe Greene) — Fictional character from The Godfather series
Morris O'Brian — 24 (TV series)

What Morrises become

Among 601 notable people named Morris:

Business leaders appear 2.42× more often than among typical names — e.g. Morris Chang, Taiwanese businessman and electrical engineer (born 1931).

Similar names: Maurice · Virgil · Monte · Cecil · Paris · Chester

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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