# Morphew (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/morphew/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | French |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 1,376 |
| US rank (2010) | 19,602 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 224,379 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.3% (1,359 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Norman French name borrowed from Old French malfé, malfeü, which in turn is derived from Latin malefatus, malefatutus, the perfect active participle of malefor (“to speak ill”), from Latin male (“badly, wrong”) + Latin for (“speak, say”). The first part is from Proto-Italic *malos, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel- (“to deceive”), cognate with Lithuanian melas (“lie”) and the first element of Ancient Greek βλάσφημος (blásphēmos, “jinx”). The second part is from Proto-Italic *fāōr, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéh₂ti (“to speak”), cognate with the second element of Ancient Greek βλάσφημος (blásphēmos, “jinx”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Morphew in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 96% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.0% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 1.0% |

## Similar surnames

Murphey, Murphy, Marrufo, Murph, Murff.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.