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

Morrill, 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 Morrill surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Morrill in America

Morrill is the 4667th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Morrill surname appeared 7,598 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Morrill.

We can also compare 2010 data for Morrill 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 Morrill

The surname Morrill is of English origin and dates back to the late 11th century. It is derived from the Old English words "mōr" meaning moor or marsh, and "hyll" meaning hill, suggesting the name originally referred to someone who lived on a marshy hill or elevated moorland.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Morhulle" in the county of Devonshire. This entry is believed to refer to a place called Morrill or Morville, located in the parish of Brixham.

In the 13th century, the name was also documented in various forms such as "Morhull," "Morhille," and "Morhulle" in various ancient charters and records from counties like Hampshire, Wiltshire, and Gloucestershire.

One notable early bearer of the name was Sir Robert Morrill (c. 1300-1360), a knight from Wiltshire who served under King Edward III during the Hundred Years' War against France. He was present at the Battle of Crécy in 1346 and the siege of Calais in 1347.

In the 16th century, the name Morrill was associated with the village of Morrill in Derbyshire, which was recorded as "Morehull" in 1577. This village likely derived its name from the same Old English roots as the surname.

Another prominent figure with this surname was Justin Morrill (1810-1898), a U.S. Senator from Vermont who is best known for sponsoring the Morrill Land-Grant Acts of 1862 and 1890, which established the land-grant college system in the United States.

Other notable individuals with the Morrill surname include John Morrill (1597-1662), an early settler of Massachusetts Bay Colony; Anson P. Morrill (1803-1887), a U.S. Representative from Maine; and Lot M. Morrill (1813-1883), a U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Ulysses S. Grant.

Throughout history, the Morrill surname has also appeared in various spellings such as Morrell, Morrell, Morril, and Morell, reflecting the regional variations and evolving spellings over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Morrill

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

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 Morrill 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 Morrill 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 Morrill was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!