Morrow (surname)

This article is about the name Morrow. For other uses, see Morrow.

Morrow
LanguageGaelic
Origin
Word/nameMoireach, Moireabh
MeaningCoastal Settlement
Region of originIreland or Scotland
Other names
Variant formsMorrah, Murray, Moray, Murrow, MacMorrow, MacMurray

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

Scottish

Morrow is, ultimately, a variant of Murray. The older pronunciation of Murray (or Moray) in Scots was Morrah[9], which led to it being variously written down throughout Scottish history as Morrow, Morow, Morra, Murra, Morro, Morwe, Murrow, and Morrewe.[10][11][12][13][14]

It was brought to Ireland by Scottish settlers during the Plantation of Ulster[15][16][17] and is most common in those areas most heavily-settled by Scots, with the majority of Irish Morrows in 1901 and 1911 being Presbyterian.[18] The name is still pronounced Morrah in much of Ulster today, but especially in those areas most heavily settled by Scots.[19] The name was also taken to the American Colonies by Ulster Scots emigrants, who would become known as the Scotch-Irish. The interchangeability between the names Murray and Morrow is evident throughout Scottish, Irish, and American history.

  • In the Parish of Seagoe, County Armagh, in 1704 Mary Murray was born to Jonathan Murray and his wife Elizabeth. Jonathan died in 1705 and was recorded as Jonathan Marra. When Mary married in the 1720s, her name was written Mary Murrah, with ‘Morrow’ written in brackets above it. [20]
  • In the Hearth Money Rolls for the Parish of Ballinderry, in County Antrim, the names Murray and Morrow are used interchangeably for the same men between 1666 and 1669. In 1666 one man is recorded as Adam Murray, but come 1669 the same man is found under Adam Morrow.[21]
  • Adam Murray was a soldier who fought during the Siege of Derry, and was the son of a Scot from Selkirkshire, who had settled in County Londonderry. Murray signed his name ‘Adam Morrow’ on a letter to King William and Queen Mary, after the relief of the siege. [22]
  • On a headstone in Colvend Kirkyard, in Kirkcudbrightshire, the inscription lists John Morrow (1734-1810) and his wife Janet Milbie (1736-1818), above their children James Murray, Robert Murray, and Mary Murray; a very clear example of the interchangeability of the two names. (In memory of John Morrow, who died at Dalbeattie the 4th May 1810, aged 76 years…Also of James Murray, their son, who died at Roughfurth on the 28th February 1852, aged 80 years…Robert Murray, died at Roughfourth, August 16th 1865, aged 63 years. Mary Murray, died at Kippford, 29th March 1887, aged 76 years).[23]
  • James Morow was a Scottish captain in the Danish-Norwegian Army between 1627 and 1628. He was part of Erskine’s Horse, and his name was variously spelt Morow, Morra, Marra, and Murray.[24]
  • In Griffith's Valuation, in 1864, William Morrow (1798-1864) was recorded as William Murrow in the townland of Druminargal, in Poyntzpass, Co. Armagh. In the nearby townland of Lisraw, at the same time, is his relative; Fanny Morrow. His father, Alexander Morrow, is recorded in the Tithe Applotment Books in 1830, and on the Map of the Manor of Acton in 1831, in Tullynacross. On William’s death certificate, also in 1864, his name appears as William Morrow.[25][26][27]
  • Morayshire has also, on headstones and in diaries, been spelt ‘Morrowshire’; another example of this fluidity.[28][29]
  • As part of the emigration of Ulster Covenanters, led by Rev. William Martin, the passenger ship Lord Dunluce left Larne for Charleston, South Carolina, in December 1772. Amongst the passengers listed in Irish sources was David Murray. Upon arrival in Charleston, he appears as David Morrow.[30][31]
  • Hugh Morrah (1764-1837) of Abbeville, South Carolina, had his name variously spelt Morrow, Morrah, Marrah, and Morroh, throughout his life. His headstone reads 'Hugh Morah, Esquire'.[32][33]

Some of the earliest recorded of the name were the Dumfries-born, Thomas Morrow, abbot of Paisley between 1418 and 1444,[12] Duncan Morrow, witness to an ordination in 1503 at Kirkinner, Wigtownshire,[34] Walter Morrow, a member of the convent at Kelso, Roxburghshire in 1548,[35][36] Davy Morrow, bailie of Annan in 1592,[37][38] and John Morrow & Christopher Morrow, two Scottish soldiers who were taken prisoner after the battle of Solway Moss in 1542.[39]

Irish

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

Fictional characters

References

  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. ^ Amy Eberlin (26 February 2016). "The Murray, Sutherland and Douglas families: were they related and were they Flemish?".
  10. ^ "Ragman Rolls - "M"".
  11. ^ Ludus Patronymicus, Richard Stephen Charnock
  12. ^ a b A Scots Mediaeval Architect (1895), P. MacGregor Chalmers
  13. ^ The Scotch-Irish : or, The Scot in North Britain, north Ireland, and North America, Charles A. Hanna
  14. ^ Byways of the Scottish Border, by George Eyre-Todd. Published in 1893 by James Lewis N.D., Selkirk: The architect was John Morvo or Morow—probably a member of the Scottish family of Murray…
  15. ^ The Scot in Ulster, J. Harrison, 1888
  16. ^ The Scottish Migration to Ulster in the Reign of James I, M. Perceval-Maxwell, 1973
  17. ^ The Scots in Ulster, Rev. Dr. David Stewart, 2015 (reprint)
  18. ^ "MORROW Surname Maps of Ireland". www.barrygriffin.com. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  19. ^ Ulster-Scots Names for People: Surnames, First Names, Nicknames and Descriptive Names by Philip Robinson. Published by the Ulster-Scots Academy Press, 2021
  20. ^ "Seagoe Parish Archives". www.seagoearchives.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  21. ^ Heads & Hearths: The Hearth Money Rolls & Poll Tax Returns for Co. Antrim 1660-69 by S. T. Carleton. Published in Belfast, by the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland, 1991
  22. ^ Hempton, John (1861). "The Siege and history of Londonderry". Londonderry: J. Hempton, Diamond. p. 136.
  23. ^ "All Gravestones I – Stewartry Monumental Inscriptions". www.kirkyards.co.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  24. ^ "MOROW, JAMES [SSNE 164] - The Scotland, Scandinavia and Northern European Biographical Database". www.st-andrews.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  25. ^ "Griffith's Valuation Viewer".
  26. ^ "The Tithe applotment books for the Poyntzpass area (1828-1835) - County Armagh" (PDF). www.poyntzpass.co.uk.
  27. ^ "Maps of the Manor of Acton - Poyntzpass and District Local History Society". www.poyntzpass.co.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  28. ^ Stewart, Douglas G. J. (2016). Allowances to Wives and Family of Militiamen Elgin 1810–1812 (PDF). Moray and Nairn Family History Society. p. 15.
  29. ^ McWillie, Robert (1999). The McWillie Diaries: The Diary of a Scottish Tenant Farm (1826 to 1876) (PDF). Keith and District Heritage Group. pp. 252, 219.
  30. ^ "As David Murray" (PDF). 1 June 1773 – via Belfast News-letter.
  31. ^ Jean Stephenson (1971). "As David Morrow - This information has been transcribed from the book "SCOTCH-IRISH MIGRATION TO SOUTH CAROLINA, 1772 - Reverend William Martin and his five ship settlers"" (PDF).
  32. ^ "Family of Hugh Morrah | Wilson Family Tree Album Blog". wilsonfamilytreealbumblog.wordpress.com. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  33. ^ "Person:Hugh Morrow (5) - Genealogy". www.werelate.org. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  34. ^ History of the Chapel Royal of Scotland, Rev. Charles Rogers, 1882
  35. ^ The County of Roxburgh, Vol. II, Royal Commission on the Ancient Monunents of Scotland
  36. ^ 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
  37. ^ The Aglionby Platt, 1592
  38. ^ Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Antiquity, Society of Antiquaries of London, Vol. 22, 1829
  39. ^ "Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland". 1856.

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