How common is the surname Morse?

41,774 people in the United States had the surname Morse in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 7,391 Americans. It ranked 824th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Morse?

Samuel Finley Breese Morse, American inventor and painter (1791–1872), followed by David Morse.

Where is the surname Morse most common?

Wikidata records people named Morse in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

How do you pronounce Morse?

Morse is /ˈmɔː(ɹ)s/, one syllable.

Is the surname Morse getting more or less common?

More common. 41,112 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 41,774 in 2010, up 1.6%.

Is Morse also a first name?

Yes. Morse is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Morse

A patronymic surname, carried by 41,774 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈmɔː(ɹ)s/ 1 syllable Soundex M620

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Morse is more common than 99.5% of them.

Origin

A surname transferred from the given name, variant of Morris, from the given name Maurice.

Morse is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 41,774 people named Morse in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 7,391 Americans. That is up 1.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 41,112.

#824

rank among US surnames

41,774

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+1.6%

change since 2000 (was #762)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#815	Leblanc	42,575	7,252
#816	Esparza	42,559	7,255
#817	Hardin	42,469	7,270
#818	Bradshaw	42,465	7,271
#819	McIntosh	42,379	7,285
#820	Howe	42,265	7,305
#821	Livingston	42,103	7,333

Who is named Morse

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

91% of people named Morse identified as white (not Hispanic), 4.3% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 91%
Black (not Hispanic) 4.3%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.1%
Two or more races 1.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Morses

23 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Samuel Finley Breese Morse
American inventor and painter (1791–1872)
David Morse
American actor, born 1953
Steve Morse
American guitarist, born 1954
Robert Morse
American actor, 1931–2022
Marston Morse
American mathematician (1892–1977)
Margaret Morse Nice
American ornithologist (1883–1974)
Neal Morse
American rock musician, born 1960
Barry Morse
British-Canadian actor (1918-2008)
Ella Mae Morse
American popular music singer (1924-1999)
Edward S. Morse
American zoologist and anthropologist (1838–1925)
Harmon Northrop Morse
American chemist (1848–1920)
Philip M. Morse
American physicist (1903–1985)

Notable Morses come mostly from the United States (21), Canada (1) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Morse

Morse has the Soundex code M620, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M620.

Questions

How common is the surname Morse?: 41,774 people in the United States had the surname Morse in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 7,391 Americans. It ranked 824th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Morse?: In the 2010 Census, 91% of people named Morse identified as white (not Hispanic), and 4.3% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Morse?: Samuel Finley Breese Morse, American inventor and painter (1791–1872), followed by David Morse.
Where is the surname Morse most common?: Wikidata records people named Morse in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce Morse?: Morse is /ˈmɔː(ɹ)s/, one syllable.
What type of surname is Morse?: Morse is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Morse getting more or less common?: More common. 41,112 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 41,774 in 2010, up 1.6%.
Is Morse also a first name?: Yes. Morse is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.