Gaelic sept & Scots

Murray

Ó Muireadhaigh / Mac Muireadhaigh

Also: MacMurray, O'Murry

“descendant of Muireadhach, 'seafarer / lord'”

🏔 Roscommon · Ros Comáin 🏔 Down · An Dún 🏔 Donegal · Dún na nGall

The sept's historic heartland, highlighted. People moved — a name can be found far from home.

The story

Irish septs of the seafarer-name in three provinces, reinforced by Scottish Murrays of Moray — a name that crossed and re-crossed the narrow sea for a thousand years.

Their world Around 1450 — The Gaelic Resurgence. Plague, absentee landlords and Gaelic recovery shrink English Ireland to a fortified strip around Dublin.

See them on the atlas ↗

What the name is made of

Ó Muireadhaigh
Ó — descendant of (originally grandson of)
Muireadhaigh — the ancestor, trade or place the name is built on
Mac Muireadhaigh
Mac — son of (Mc is the same word, contracted)
Muireadhaigh — the ancestor, trade or place the name is built on

Find this form in the Irish-to-English index → · What Ó and Mac actually mean

Is Murray an Irish name?

Murray has two separate origins. A Gaelic sept and an incoming family ended up with the same English spelling, and they are not related — which one you belong to is a question the surname cannot answer, only the records can.

The five answers, and why it is rarely yes or no →

From Wikipedia — “Murray (surname)”

Murray is both a Scottish and an Irish surname with two distinct respective etymologies. The Scottish version is a common variation of the word Moray, an anglicisation of the Medieval Gaelic word Muireb ; the b here was pronounced as v, hence the Latinization to Moravia. These names denote the district on the south shore of the Moray Firth, in Scotland. Murray is a direct transliteration of how Scottish people pronounce the word Moray.

Read the full article ↗ · Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Neighbours — other names from the same counties

Duffy · Donegal, Roscommon Gill · Donegal, Down Magee · Down, Donegal Bell · Down Boyle · Donegal Brennan · Roscommon Breslin · Donegal Brogan · Donegal Campbell · Down Cannon · Donegal Carty · Roscommon Clarke · Donegal Conlan · Roscommon Curran · Donegal

Quick answers

Is Murray an Irish name?

What does the surname Murray mean?

Murray (Irish: Ó Muireadhaigh / Mac Muireadhaigh) means “descendant of Muireadhach, 'seafarer / lord'”. Origin: Gaelic sept & Scots.

Where in Ireland is the surname Murray from?

The historic homeland of the Murray name is Roscommon, Down, Donegal. People moved, so the name can be found far beyond it.

What is the Irish for Murray?

Ó Muireadhaigh / Mac Muireadhaigh. Related spellings: MacMurray, O'Murry.

Looking for the Murray family crest? Read this first — arms belong to people, not surnames, and the honest version is more interesting. Tracing Murray ancestors? The step-by-step guide.

Not your spelling? Try the full A–Z. Know more about the Murray name? Add to the story.