Morris
A typically masculine given name derived from the French surname Maurice, ultimately from Latin Maurus meaning "Moorish".
Name Census estimates that about 26,258 living Americans carry the first name Morris. It is a predominantly male name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Morris today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Morris births was 1918 (1,690 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Morris. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Morris with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Morris is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 483 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1920s, recent registration numbers for Morris have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
26K
~ 1 in 13,053 Americans
Peak year
1918
1,690 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,868
Tracked since 1880
Census
Morris in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 24,899 people with the first name Morris, which placed it at #1,397 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,397
National first-name rank
People counted
25K
24,899 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
8.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Morris
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Morris is White at 57.3%. The next largest groups are Black (33.7%) and Hispanic (3.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Morris described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Morris at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.3% · 14,266
- Black or African American33.7% · 8,402
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 829
- Two or more races2.5% · 628
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 538
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 236
Gender
Gender distribution for Morris
Out of the 71,392 babies given the name Morris since 1880, 99.3% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Morris as a male name
- Ranked #1,868 in 2024
- 86 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1918 (1,679 births)
Morris as a female name
- Ranked #8,050 in 1985
- 8 female births in 1985
- Peak: 1924 (16 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Morris appears almost entirely male. Of the 24,900 people counted with this name, 99.2% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Morris: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Morris from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 14,247 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Morris by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Morris during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Morris' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 50 states and territories. New York, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Morris, while Alaska, Wyoming, New Hampshire recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,249 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Morris
The name Morris has its origins in the Germanic and Norman French languages. It is derived from the Medieval Latin name Maurus, which itself comes from the Greek word "mauros" meaning "dark" or "black". This was likely a reference to the dark complexion or hair color of the original bearer.
In the early Middle Ages, the name Maurus was adopted into Medieval French as Morice or Maurice. This later evolved into the English form Morris, which emerged around the 12th century as a diminutive or pet form of the name Maurice. The variant spelling Morrice was also popular in medieval England.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Morris dates back to the 13th century, when it appears in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire from 1221. Other early examples can be found in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which lists individuals with the name Morris in counties like Oxfordshire and Huntingdonshire.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Morris. One early example is Morris ap Bleddyn (c. 1063-1090), a Welsh prince and member of the House of Mathrafal. Another is Morris Rhydderch (c. 1195-1244), a Welsh landowner and military leader during the Conquest of Wales by Edward I.
In the realm of literature, the name Morris is associated with the English writer and artist William Morris (1834-1896), a key figure in the Arts and Crafts movement. He was also a renowned poet, designer, and socialist activist.
In the field of music, the American jazz composer and pianist Morris "Moe" Koffman (1928-2001) was a notable bearer of the name. He is particularly remembered for his instrumental hit "The Swingin' Shepherd Blues".
Finally, in the world of sports, the Welsh rugby union player Morris "Moz" Stevenson (1897-1975) was a prominent figure in the early 20th century. He played for Wales and the British Lions, and later became a coach and rugby administrator.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Morris
People
Morris + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Morris as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Morris: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Morris?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 26,258 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Morris going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 13,053 US residents.
Is Morris a common name?
We classify Morris as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 71,392 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Morris most popular?
The single biggest year for Morris was 1918, when 1,690 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Morris is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Morris in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 24,899 people with the name Morris, or 8.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,397 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Morris in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Morris?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Morris appears almost entirely male. Of the 24,900 people counted with this name, 99.2% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Morris?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Morris is White at 57.3%. The next largest groups are Black (33.7%) and Hispanic (3.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Morris most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Morris in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.3% (14,266 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Morris in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Morris a male name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Morris in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Morris still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Morris in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Morris can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Morris?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.