Murr last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Murr

A German and English occupational surname referring to someone who built or worked with stone walls.

Murr, 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 Murr surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Murr in America

Murr is the 12148th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Murr surname appeared 2,565 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 Murr.

We can also compare 2010 data for Murr 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 12148 11366 6.65%
Count 2,565 2,545 0.78%
Proportion per 100k 0.87 0.94 -7.73%

The history of the last name Murr

The surname Murr is believed to have originated in Germany during the medieval period, specifically in the region of Bavaria. It is thought to be derived from the Middle High German word "murren," which means "to grumble" or "to murmur." This suggests that the name may have originally been a nickname given to someone who was known for their tendency to grumble or complain.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Murr can be found in the Codex Traditionum Monasterii Sancti Emmerami, a medieval manuscript from the 11th century that documents the property holdings and transactions of the Benedictine monastery of St. Emmeram in Regensburg, Bavaria. In this document, a certain "Mur" is mentioned as a witness to a land transfer in the year 1055.

Another early reference to the name Murr comes from the Weingartner Liederhandschrift, a 13th-century manuscript that contains a collection of Middle High German courtly love songs and poems. One of the poems is attributed to a certain "Herr Murre," which could be an early spelling variation of the name Murr.

In the 14th century, there are records of a family with the surname Murr residing in the town of Nürnberg (Nuremberg), which was a major center of trade and commerce in medieval Germany. One notable member of this family was Hans Murr, a merchant and city councilor who lived from around 1380 to 1445.

During the Renaissance period, a prominent figure with the surname Murr was Johann Baptist Murr (1717-1788), a German historian and librarian who served as the director of the Bavarian Court and State Library in Munich. He was renowned for his extensive writings on various topics, including the history of Bavaria and the genealogy of noble families.

In the 19th century, a well-known bearer of the name Murr was the German writer and satirist Christoph Friedrich Murr (1803-1856), who published several works of literary criticism and social commentary under the pen name "Murr the Cat."

Another notable person with the surname Murr was the German artist and printmaker Eduard Murr (1836-1892), who was known for his etchings and lithographs depicting scenes of daily life in Munich and other Bavarian cities.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Murr

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

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 Murr was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 93.53% 2,399
Non-Hispanic Black Only 1.17% 30
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.66% 17
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 1.33% 34
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.29% 33
Hispanic Origin 2.03% 52

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 Murr has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 93.53% 94.38% -0.90%
Black 1.17% 0.98% 17.67%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.66% 0.51% 25.64%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 1.33% 0.90% 38.57%
Two or More Races 1.29% 1.45% -11.68%
Hispanic 2.03% 1.77% 13.68%

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Murr, 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!

"Murr last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/murr-surname-popularity/.

"Murr last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/murr-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

Murr last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/murr-surname-popularity/.

Search for a name

Search for a first or last name to learn more about its origin, meaning, and more.

Simple as that.