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

Murchinson, 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 Murchinson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Murchinson in America

Murchinson is the 113155th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Murchinson surname appeared 155 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Murchinson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Murchinson 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 Murchinson

The surname Murchinson is of Scottish origin, first appearing in the 13th century in the regions of Ayrshire and Dumfriesshire. It is derived from the old Gaelic words "muir" meaning "sea" and "choinnich" meaning "meeting place," suggesting the name originated from a clan or family that lived near the meeting of the sea and land.

Early records show the name was spelled in various ways, such as Murechineson, Murchesoun, and Murchison. One of the earliest recorded instances is in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which list several men swearing fealty to King Edward I of England, including Adam Murchessone and Thomas Murchesson.

The name appears in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland in the 14th century, with references to landowners and tenants bearing the name. In 1376, a Robert Murchinson is mentioned as a landowner in Ayrshire.

During the 16th century, the name was associated with the Clan Murchison, a Scottish clan based in Lochaber and Ross-shire. The clan's traditional seat was the lands of Auchtertyre, near the village of Lochalsh.

One notable figure in the clan's history was Sir Roderick Murchison (1792-1871), a Scottish geologist and pioneer in the study of stratigraphy. He is credited with establishing the Silurian system, a major division of the Paleozoic era, and was the first to describe and name the Devonian period.

Another prominent individual was Sir Archibald Murchison (1855-1925), a British diplomat and colonial administrator who served as the British Consul-General in Egypt and later as the High Commissioner for the Mandate of Palestine.

In the literary world, Roderick Murchison (1864-1927) was a Scottish poet and novelist, known for his works depicting rural life in Scotland, such as "The Afternoon Caller" and "The Bracken Burners."

Historically, the name Murchinson has also been associated with place names in Scotland, such as Murchison Island in the Shetland Islands and the village of Murchison in the Scottish Borders region.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Murchinson

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

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

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

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