Morey
A surname with several possible origins, most often treated as a place-based name or a form of Moorey.
The #3,298 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 28,341 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name Morey has been explained in more than one way. English sources often treat it as a locational surname, either from residence near a moor enclosure or as a spelling variant of Moorey; a place-name source also connects it with French Morey/Mory, from a Latinized estate name meaning something like "Maurus's estate." In Irish surname material, Morey can also appear as an anglicized or associated form among names built from Gaelic O-forms, though that is less certain as a direct origin for the English surname. Because these explanations point in different directions, the surname is best described as having mixed and uncertain origins.
History
The surname is found in medieval and early modern records in England, including forms such as Robert le Morey in 1273. Later genealogical and surname dictionaries continued to record it as both a surname in its own right and as a variant spelling of Moorey or related local surnames. It also appears in Irish surname indexes, which suggests independent adoption or later assimilation in Ireland as well as Britain.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century source thought Morey could come from a residence by a "moor-hey"—basically a fenced or enclosed place on the moor.
From the historical record
“lirother of "William the Conqueror. MOREY. The same as Moorey. MORFEE. See Maufee. IMORGAX. A AVelsh personal name of high antiquity. The founder of the Pela- gian hei'esy, in the fourth century, v/as a true Welshman and a monk of Bangor. His name was Morgan, which signifies ' Of the Sea,' and this was correctly…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom