The Morrison surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 121,130 people carried this name — #250 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 2,440 people counted. That is up 3% from 117,939 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Morrison surname
A Scottish surname originating as a patronymic.
From the given name Maurice or Morris + -son.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Morrison» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890
Ireland registered 111 births for the Morrison name in 1890.
They were registered in all four provinces, most of all in Ulster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 4,900 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. 18 of them were indexed under other spellings of the name.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born, 1890
Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 127 people named Morrison live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
86 people named Morrison live in Switzerland.
They live in 10 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 32 people named Morrison.
Most of them — 28 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 2 départements, most often Paris.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Poland’s population register
29 people named Morrison have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 80 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 8 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Warmian-Masurian.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In the Nordic population registers
129 people named Morrison are counted in Sweden and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s
Morrison was found among the farmers of Northumberland: 11 in every 10,000.
Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent.
Where it concentrates, on the mapPer 10,000 farmers, by county
H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.
In Scotland, 1880s
Morrison was 42 in every 10,000 names in Scotland.
That is about 1 in 238. Its home there, in Guppy’s words: “Well distributed.” He counted the more than 20,000 names in Halliburton’s County Directory of Scotland, taking Scotland as a whole, and listed only the names that reached 10 in every 10,000.
H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), appendix: alphabetical list of the most frequent Scottish names, p. 592 — public domain · names in Halliburton’s County Directory of Scotland, per 10,000 for the whole country.
In Scotland’s registers today
Morrison was recorded 560 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.
That made it the 20th most common name in those registers. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 845. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.
National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
In the first U.S. census, 1790
337 families named Morrison, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.
Each family is counted by its head. About 1,918 people lived in those households, 5.7 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 9 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.
Families, by state
U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 254 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.
In print
Morrison in American newspapers,
1889–1912.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 950,479 pages in all carry the name.
In print
Morrison in Australian newspapers,
1820s–2020s.
266,053 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Morrison. The most, 42,525, date from the 1940s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Victoria, at 1.6 times its expected share.
Articles, by state
Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Morrison.
Who carried it
People named Morrison,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Alfred William Morrison 1802–1883 · politician -
Dorilus Morrison 1814–1897 · businessperson -
Joseph Curran Morrison 1816–1885 · judge -
James L. D. Morrison 1816–1888 · lawyer -
Angus Morrison 1822–1882 · lawyer
Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 191 lives in all are documented under this name.
In the public record
People named Morrison,
in the records of 7 countries.
Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.
United States14,804 records
- U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 4,287
- New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 3,249
- Other U.S. records 7,268
-
Example: U.S. war memorial War record Gene Francis MorrisonBorn 1939; from Versailles, Ohio. U.S. Marine Corps, explosive ordnance disposal technician; died in an accident 1968 in Quang Tri, South Vietnam. Buried at Mobile National Cemetery, Alabama.
U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) -
Example: U.S. registration card, 1942 Military record Jack D. MorrisonBorn 1900 in New Jersey. Enlisted 1942 at San Francisco, California; cook. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1955, buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery, California.
U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) -
Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record Jane MorrisonArrived at New York in 1892 aboard the Anchoria from Glasgow and Moville, aged 17; servant. From Donegal, Ireland; bound for Pennsylvania.
U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
Showing 3 of 14,804 records for Morrison in the United States.
Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · City of Asheville (public domain, PDDL) · New York State, Open NY (police and firefighter memorial rolls). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).
Australia7,380 records
- Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 3,784
- Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 1,353
- Other Australian records 2,243
-
Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829 Transportation record Eliza MorrisonTransported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Earl Grey, sailing from Kingston in 1849. Native of Donegal. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1854.
Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) -
Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829 Transportation record Alexander MorrisonTransported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Dromedary, sailing from England in 1819. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1837.
Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: probate petition, 1848 Probate record Askin MorrisonDied 1876 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 76. Will registered in Tasmania in 1876.
Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
Showing 3 of 7,380 records for Morrison in Australia.
Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0) · City of Ballarat, Avenue of Honour Plaques (CC BY 3.0 AU). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).
Canada6,750 records
- Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 5,807
- Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 282
- Other Canadian records 661
-
Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917 War record Kenneth Allan MorrisonServed in the No. 2 Construction Battalion in the First World War, captain; of Ottawa, Ontario.
Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. -
Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record John MorrisonCame to Ontario in 1878 aboard the Sardinian, bound for Hamilton, Ontario; Irish.
Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. -
Example: Canadian cemetery Burial record Margaret MorrisonDied 1964, aged 64; buried at St. Vital Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg.
Showing 3 of 6,750 records for Morrison in Canada.
Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).
United Kingdom768 records
- Stirling Council burial records 444
- War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 158
- Other British records 166
-
Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919 War record Charles Mowatt MorrisonBorn 1885 at Moray Street; engineer. Died 1918. Named in the Morayshire roll of honour (1921). Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918 (Seaforth Highlanders).
National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain); National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) -
Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919 War record Robert MorrisonFarm servant. Died 1917. Named in the Morayshire roll of honour (1921). Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917 (Seaforth Highlanders).
National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain); National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) -
Example: burial register, 1858 Burial record Daniel MorrisonBuried in 1901 at Ballengeich Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland, aged 49.
Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Showing 3 of 768 records for Morrison in the United Kingdom.
Counts: Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain) · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0); Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).
New Zealand230 records
- Christchurch City cemetery records 124
- Thames-Coromandel District cemetery records 65
- Other New Zealand records 41
-
Example: burial register, 1858 Burial record William Richard Kimmitt MorrisonDied 2001, aged 87; buried at Totara Memorial Park Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato.
Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: burial register, 1858 Burial record Mabel Florence MorrisonDied 1961, aged 81; buried at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.
Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: burial register, 1858 Burial record Mary MorrisonDied 1931, aged 57; buried at Omaka Cemetery, Marlborough.
Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0)
Showing 3 of 230 records for Morrison in New Zealand.
Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0) · Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Waimakariri District Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).
Netherlands58 records
- Dutch church registers before 1811 25
- Dutch population registers 19
- Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 14
-
Example: marriage register, 1911 Marriage record Anthonie MorrisonMarried in 1828 in Utrecht. Died 1877 in Utrecht, aged 70.
Open Archives, Het Utrechts Archief (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: civil register, 1880 Death record Jacobus Wernard MorrisonBorn 1829 in Utrecht. Died 1829 in Utrecht.
Open Archives, Het Utrechts Archief (CC BY 4.0)
Showing 2 of 58 records for Morrison in the Netherlands.
Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).
France8 records
-
Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Rita Henna MorrisonBorn 1958 in Paramaribo (Surinam); died 2000 in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni (Guyane).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
Showing 1 of 8 records for Morrison in France.
Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Morrison.
- Moroz 1,434 · U.S. census
- Morra 1,175 · U.S. census
- Morreale 2,149 · U.S. census
- Morrell 11,700 · U.S. census
- Morrill 7,598 · U.S. census
- Morris 318,884 · U.S. census
- Morrissey 13,564 · U.S. census
- Morrow 56,840 · U.S. census
- Morsch 533 · U.S. census
- Morse 41,774 · U.S. census
- Mort 2,762 · U.S. census
- Mortel 318 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Morrison is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.