Morrill
An English surname transferred to a given name, possibly derived from the French "mur" meaning "wall".
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Morrill. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Morrill today is around 91 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Morrill births was 1915 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Morrill. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Morrill is about 91 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Morrills were born before 1945.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Morrill. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
1915
8 babies that year
Average age
91
years old
1949 SSA rank
#4,058
Tracked since 1914
Popularity
Morrill: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Morrill from the 1910s through to the 1940s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 30 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Morrill remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Morrill by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Morrill during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Morrill
The given name Morrill is of English origin and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old English words "mor" meaning "moor" or "marsh" and "hyll" meaning "hill" or "ridge". Thus, the name likely referred to someone who lived near a marshy hill or ridge.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Morrill dates back to the 13th century in the Domesday Book, which was a comprehensive record of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. In this text, the name appears as "Morehyll".
Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance period, the name Morrill was primarily found in England, particularly in the counties of Devon, Somerset, and Dorset. It was often associated with rural areas and agricultural communities.
In the 16th century, a notable figure with the name Morrill was Sir Thomas Morrill (c. 1520-1597), an English politician and landowner who served as a Member of Parliament for Dorset.
Another historically significant person with the name Morrill was Justin Morrill (1810-1898), an American politician and businessman who was a prominent figure during the American Civil War era. He was a U.S. Senator from Vermont and is considered the founder of the land-grant university system in the United States.
In the 19th century, Henry Morrill (1830-1910) was a well-known American educator and school administrator who served as the principal of Wilbraham & Monson Academy in Massachusetts for over 40 years.
A notable literary figure with the name Morrill was John Morrill (1839-1923), an American author and editor who wrote several books on the history of New England and the American Civil War.
In the field of science, George Morrill (1870-1940) was an American astronomer and mathematician who made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and the motion of comets.
While the name Morrill has its roots in England, it has been adopted and used in various other parts of the world, particularly in North America, due to migration and cultural influences over the centuries.
People
Morrill + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Morrill as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Morrill: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Morrill?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Morrill going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 57,125,723 US residents.
Is Morrill a common name?
We classify Morrill as "Very Rare". It ranks above 22.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 63 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Morrill most popular?
The single biggest year for Morrill was 1915, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Morrill is about 91 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Morrill a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Morrill in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.