Murray
Ó Muireadhaigh · descendant of Muireadhach
Murray is Ó Muireadhaigh in Irish, said oh MWIR-ee, and means descendant of Muireadhach.
Muireadhach means lord of the sea, from muir. Several families, and the Scottish Murrays are a different stock entirely who arrived later with the plantations.
How it changes
- A man: Ó Muireadhaigh
- His daughter: Ní Mhuireadhaigh
- A woman who married into it: Bean Uí Mhuireadhaigh
- The family together: Uí Mhuireadhaigh
Where it comes from
Roscommon, Down and Cork
Also spelt
Murray, MacMurray, Murry, Murrie
A name, not a pedigree
This is where the name came from, which is not the same as where you came from. Names were translated, anglicised, taken on by tenants and neighbours, and carried in by settlers who were no relation to the family that started them. To follow your own line, the 1901 and 1911 censuses are free and searchable, and give the county each person was born in.