Murphy

For other uses, see Murphy (disambiguation).
Murphy
Family name
Meaning "sea-warrior"
Region of origin Ireland
Language(s) of origin Irish
Related names Murchadh, Murphey, MacMurphy, MacMurrough, Morphy, O'Morchoe, O'Murphy, Murray, Morrow, MacMorrow
Murphy.

Murphy is an Anglicized version of two Irish surnames: Ó Murchadha/Ó Murchadh ("descendant of Murchadh"), and Mac Murchaidh/Mac Murchadh ("son of Murchadh")[1] derived from the Irish personal name Murchadh, which meant "sea-warrior" or "sea-battler".[2] (Muir meaning "sea" and cath meaning "battle").[3]

It is said of Murrough (Murchadh) as he entered the thick of the fight and prepared to assail the foreign invaders, the Danes, when they had repulsed the Dal-Cais, that ‘he was seized with a boiling terrible anger, an excessive elevation and greatness of spirit and mind. A bird of valour and championship rose in him, and fluttered over his head and on his breath.[4]

In modern Irish, "Ó Murchú", rather than "Ó Murchadha", is used.

Murphy is the most common surname in Ireland, the fourteenth most common surname in Northern Ireland and the fifty-eighth most common surname in the United States.[5]

Notable people named Murphy

Men

Women

Fictional

See also

References

  1. Brewer, Paul (2002). Ireland: History, People, Culture. Running Press. p. 351. ISBN 0-7624-1269-0.
  2. MacLysaght, Edward (1991). The Surnames of Ireland. Irish Academic Press. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-7165-2366-6.
  3. Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 352, 406, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1
  4. Hennessey, W M. The Ancient Irish Goddess of War. Library of Alexandria. p. 307. ISBN 978-1-6131-0276-3.
  5. "Genealogy Data: Frequently Occurring Surnames from Census 2000". Census.gov. Retrieved 2012-04-19.

External links

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