Morgan (surname)

Morgan
Language(s)Welsh
Origin
Region of originWales
Other names
Variant form(s)Morganach, Ó Muireagáin, Morgant

Morgan is a surname of Welsh origin.

Origins and variants

The Welsh surname is derived from the Old Welsh personal name "Morcant", which is of an uncertain origin. The surname "Morgan" traces its origin from the powerful Welsh family established c. 1330 by Morgan ap Llewelyn (son of Llewelyn ap Ifor, Lord of St. Clere, and Angharad, daughter and heiress of Sir Morgan ap Maredudd (Meredith), Lord of Tredegar), and is of Welsh origin, meaning either "great kingdom" or "great hundred". It is a popular family name in Wales, as well as there being a group of "Morgan"s from "Morgund". It is possible that the name was Celtic from the Cornovii Tribe who lived in the North of Scotland and in the Severn Valley near the Wrekin in Shropshire. The County of Glamorgan is named after the Princes of South Wales named "Morgan", a group, part of which developed into the name Leyshon. The term for water sprites in Welsh is morgans.[1]

At the time of the British Census of 1881,[2] the frequency of the surname "Morgan" was highest in Brecknockshire (over 16 times the national average), followed by Monmouthshire, Glamorgan, Carmarthenshire, Radnorshire, Montgomeryshire, Cardiganshire, Pembrokeshire, Herefordshire, and Shropshire.

People with the surname

Fictional characters

See also

References
  • Internet surname database: Morgan
  • Wiki Name
  • Abella, Alex (2000). The Great American: A Novel. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-0548-0
  • Crawford, Donald (1997). Michael and Natasha. Scribner ISBN 0-684-83430-8
  • Pope, Dudley (2001). Harry Morgan's Way: The Biography of Sir Henry Morgan 1635–1684 House of Stratus ISBN 1-84232-482-9
  • Strouse, Jean (2000). Morgan: American Financier. Harper Perennial. ISBN 0-06-095589-9
  1. Tongue, Ruth L. (1970). Forgotten Folk-Tales of the English Counties. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, p. 27.
  2. "Morgan Surname Meaning and Distribution". forebears.co.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2014
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