| Origin | |
|---|---|
| Word/name | British Isles |
| Meaning | "moor", "stately and noble" |
| Region of origin | Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Spain, France |
| Frequency Comparisons:[1] | |
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Moore (pronounced /mʊər/ or /mɔːr/) is a common English-language surname. It was the 19th most common surname in Ireland in 1901 with 15,417 members.[2] It is the 34th most common surname in Australia, 32nd most common in England,[1] and was the 16th most common surname in the United States in 2000.[3]
It can have several meanings and derivations, as it appeared as a surname long before written language had developed in most of the population, resulting in a variety of spellings.
Variations of the name can appear as Moore, More or Moor; as well as the Scottish Gaelic originations Muir, Mure and Mor/Mór; the Manx Gaelic origination Moar; the Irish originations O'More and Ó Mórdha; and the later Irish variants O'Moore and de Mora. The name also arises as an anglicisation of the Welsh epithet Mawr meaning great or large.[4]
The similarly pronounced surname Mohr is of Germanic lineage and is not related to the Gaelic/English variations.
- ^ a b "Moore Surname Meaning". forebears.co.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ^ "MOORE Surname Maps of Ireland".
- ^ "Frequently Occurring Surnames from the Census 2000". United States Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- ^ "Moore Name Meaning & More Family History".