Murice
A masculine name derived from the Latin name Mauritius, meaning "dark-skinned."
Name Census estimates that about 72 living Americans carry the first name Murice. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Murice today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Murice births was 1975 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Murice. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Murice. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
72
~ 1 in 4,760,477 Americans
Peak year
1975
9 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
1991 SSA rank
#9,157
Tracked since 1966
Census
Murice in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 148 people with the first name Murice, which placed it at #45,698 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#45,698
National first-name rank
People counted
148
148 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
64.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Murice
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Murice is Black at 64.9%. The next largest groups are White (25.7%) and Hispanic (5.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Murice described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Murice at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American64.9% · 96
- White25.7% · 38
- Hispanic or Latino5.4% · 8
- Two or more races3.4% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1
Popularity
Murice: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Murice from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 28 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Murice remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Murice 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 Murice 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 Murice
The name Murice is a variant of the Latin name Maurice, which originated from the Roman family name Mauricius. This name is derived from the Latin word "Maurus," meaning "Moorish" or "dark-skinned," referring to the inhabitants of ancient Mauretania, a region in North Africa.
The name Maurice gained popularity during the Roman Empire and was later adopted by various European cultures. In the early Christian era, it became associated with St. Maurice, a 3rd-century Roman soldier and martyr who was venerated as the patron saint of soldiers and infantry.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Murice can be found in the writings of the 6th-century historian Gregory of Tours, who mentioned a Frankish nobleman named Murice. During the Middle Ages, the name was commonly used among the nobility and ruling classes across Europe.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Murice or its variations. One of the most famous was Murice of Sully, a 12th-century French bishop and theologian who played a crucial role in the construction of the iconic Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. Another notable figure was Murice de Gheldere, a 14th-century Flemish nobleman and military leader who fought in the Hundred Years' War.
In the 15th century, Murice Rolin, a French nobleman and diplomat, served as the Chancellor of Burgundy under Duke Philip the Good. A century later, Murice of Nassau, a German prince and military commander, played a significant role in the Eighty Years' War against Spanish rule in the Netherlands.
During the Renaissance, the name Murice was associated with several celebrated artists and intellectuals. Murice Quentin de La Tour, a renowned 18th-century French pastel artist, was renowned for his portraiture and contributed to the development of the pastel technique.
While the name Murice has undergone various spelling variations over time, it has maintained its roots in the ancient Latin and Roman traditions, reflecting a rich history and cultural significance across Europe.
People
Murice + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Murice 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
Murice: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Murice?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 72 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Murice 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 4,760,477 US residents.
Is Murice a common name?
We classify Murice as "Very Rare". It ranks above 59.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 77 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Murice most popular?
The single biggest year for Murice was 1975, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Murice is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Murice in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 148 people with the name Murice, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,698 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Murice in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Murice?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Murice leans strongly male. 133 people counted with this name were male (89.3%), compared with 16 female bearers (10.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Murice?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Murice is Black at 64.9%. The next largest groups are White (25.7%) and Hispanic (5.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Murice most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Murice in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.9% (96 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Murice in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Murice a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Murice 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.
Is Murice still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Murice in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Murice can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people are called Murice?
You can see how many Americans are named Murice on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.