Find out how popular the last name Maurice is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Maurice.

Maurice, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Maurice surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Maurice in America

Maurice is the 8430th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Maurice surname appeared 3,919 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Maurice.

We can also compare 2010 data for Maurice to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Maurice

The surname MAURICE is believed to have originated in France, deriving from the Roman personal name Mauritius. This name was derived from the Latin word "Maurus," meaning "Moorish" or "dark-skinned." The name gained popularity during the medieval period, particularly in northern France.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the MAURICE surname can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Moricius" and "Morice." The name was associated with individuals who may have had darker complexions or connections to the Moorish people of North Africa.

In the 12th century, the surname MAURICE appeared in various records across France, including charters and tax rolls. Notably, a knight named Maurice de Berkeley was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire in 1165.

During the 13th century, the MAURICE surname began to spread across Europe, with variations such as "Morice," "Moritz," and "Morys" appearing in historical documents from England, Germany, and other regions.

Some notable individuals with the surname MAURICE throughout history include:

1. Maurice de Sully (c. 1120-1196), a French churchman who served as the Bishop of Paris and oversaw the construction of the famous Notre-Dame Cathedral.

2. Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange (1567-1625), a prominent Dutch military leader and statesman during the Eighty Years' War against Spain.

3. Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), a French composer known for his orchestral works, such as "Boléro" and "Daphnis et Chloé."

4. Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949), a Belgian playwright and poet who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911.

5. Maurice Wilkins (1916-2004), a New Zealand-born British biophysicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962 for his contributions to the discovery of the structure of DNA.

The MAURICE surname has also been associated with various place names, such as Mauriceville in Texas, United States, and Mauricetown in New Jersey, further reflecting the historic prevalence of this name across different regions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Maurice

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Maurice.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Maurice was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Maurice has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Maurice was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Maurice, please contact us.

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