Moore (surname)
Encyclopedia
The name Moore is a popular surname
in many English-speaking
countries and is of Gaelic
/English
origin. It is the 31st most common surname in the United Kingdom, and 9th most common in the United States.
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 Gaelic originations O'More and O'Mordha; and the later Irish variants O'Moore and de Mora.
The similarly pronounced surname Mohr
is of Germanic
lineage and is not related to the Gaelic/English variations.
Family name
A family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...
in many English-speaking
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
countries and is of Gaelic
Gaels
The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
/English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
origin. It is the 31st most common surname in the United Kingdom, and 9th most common in the United States.
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
Mór (disambiguation)
Mór is a town in Hungary.Mór may also refer to:* Mór Jókai, Hungarian dramatist and novelist* Mór Than, Hungarian painter* Mór Perczel, Hungarian landholder, general, and one of the leaders of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848...
; the Manx Gaelic origination Moar; the Irish Gaelic originations O'More and O'Mordha; and the later Irish variants O'Moore and de Mora.
The similarly pronounced surname Mohr
Mohr
Mohr is a German language surname and may refer to:* Alexander Mohr , a German Expressionist artist* Bill Mohr , an Australian rules footballer* Charles Mohr , a German-American pharmacist and botanist...
is of Germanic
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
lineage and is not related to the Gaelic/English variations.
Meanings and origins
- From Middle EnglishMiddle EnglishMiddle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
mor meaning "open land" or "bog" and given to persons dwelling near a moorMoorlandMoorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...
or heathHeath (habitat)A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...
. - The Old Irish Moores are O'Mordha, from the Irish Gaelic word mordha, meaning "stately and noble". The Anglo-Norman Moores established in Ireland's province of MunsterMunsterMunster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...
soon after the Anglo/Norman invasion are called de Mora in Irish, a phonetic rendering of the English name which is derived from the word "moor", or "heathy mountain". - Alternatively of Gaelic/ManxManx languageManx , also known as Manx Gaelic, and as the Manks language, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, historically spoken by the Manx people. Only a small minority of the Island's population is fluent in the language, but a larger minority has some knowledge of it...
origin Moar, the name for a collector of manorial rents on the Isle of ManIsle of ManThe Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
. - The spelling Moore was sometimes used to indicate a son of someone called More - this being one use where spelling is significant.
- Possibly derived from Maurus, a RomanRoman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
first nameGiven nameA given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
which meant "dark skinned" in LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, and related to the Old FrenchOld FrenchOld French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
More meaning "MoorMoorsThe description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
", a colloquial nicknameNicknameA nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
for a person of dark complexion, often describing someone of North African descent. - Possibly originated from early references to persons who worked with boats at a wharf or Moorage.