NameCensus.

UK surname

Morison

A Scottish and English surname derived from the nickname for someone of small stature.

In the 1881 census there were 1,534 people recorded with the Morison surname, ranking it #2,737 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 610, ranked #8,601, down from #2,737 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Lochs, Barvas and Carloway and Edinburgh. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Friockheim, Hillyland, Tulloch and Inveralmond and Wiltshire.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Morison is 3,070 in 1851. Compared with 1881, the name has fallen by 60.2%.

1881 census count

1,534

Ranked #2,737

Modern count

610

2016, ranked #8,601

Peak year

1851

3,070 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Morison had 1,534 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #2,737 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 610 in 2016, ranked #8,601.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 3,070 in 1851.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Spacious Rural Living.

Morison surname distribution map

The map shows where the Morison surname is concentrated in each census or modern distribution year. Darker areas mean a stronger local concentration.

Distribution map

Morison surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Morison over time

The table below tracks recorded surname counts and rank from the 19th-century census years through the modern adult-register period.

Year Period Count Rank
1851 historical 3,070 #940
1861 historical 2,703 #1,087
1881 historical 1,534 #2,737
1891 historical 1,849 #2,486
1901 historical 1,216 #4,052
1911 historical 480 #8,076
1997 modern 581 #8,331
1998 modern 602 #8,376
1999 modern 606 #8,387
2000 modern 630 #8,134
2001 modern 605 #8,249
2002 modern 637 #8,090
2003 modern 638 #7,932
2004 modern 625 #8,092
2005 modern 603 #8,247
2006 modern 580 #8,497
2007 modern 561 #8,766
2008 modern 565 #8,780
2009 modern 561 #9,028
2010 modern 595 #8,844
2011 modern 594 #8,760
2012 modern 580 #8,813
2013 modern 593 #8,818
2014 modern 610 #8,692
2015 modern 610 #8,635
2016 modern 610 #8,601

Geography

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Where Morisons are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Lochs, Barvas and Carloway, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stornoway. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Friockheim, Hillyland, Tulloch and Inveralmond, Wiltshire, Blair Atholl, Strathardle and Glenshee and Earlston Stow and Clovernfords Area. Treat these as concentration signals, not proof that every family line began there.

Some modern areas include a three-digit suffix, such as Leeds 110. The suffix is a small-area code, so it stays in the table while the prose uses the plain place name.

Top historical parishes

Rank Parish Area
1 Lochs Ross And Cromarty
2 Barvas and Carloway Ross And Cromarty
3 Edinburgh Edinburgh
4 Glasgow Lanark
5 Stornoway Ross And Cromarty

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Friockheim Angus
2 Hillyland, Tulloch and Inveralmond Perth and Kinross
3 Wiltshire 007 Wiltshire
4 Blair Atholl, Strathardle and Glenshee Perth and Kinross
5 Earlston Stow and Clovernfords Area Scottish Borders

Forenames

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First names often paired with Morison

These lists show first names that appear often with the Morison surname in historical and recent records.

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Morison

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Morison, this points to the kinds of places where the surname is most concentrated today.

These neighbourhood labels describe areas, not individual people. They are useful because surnames often cluster through family history, migration, housing patterns and local work. A surname can be strongest in one type of neighbourhood even when people with that name live across the country.

The UK classification gives the national picture. The London classification is more specific to the capital, where housing, age profile, tenure and population mix can look quite different from the rest of the UK.

UK neighbourhood type

UK Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Retired Professionals

Group

Spacious Rural Living

Nationally, the Morison surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Spacious Rural Living, within Retired Professionals. This does not mean every Morison household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

These predominantly ageing households typically have no resident dependent children. Most are owner-occupiers and live in detached houses in low density residential developments (although renting is more common than in the rest of the Supergroup). White ethnicity predominates. Residents are typically beyond retirement age but those still in work have managerial, professional or skilled trade occupations. White ethnicity and Christian religious affiliation predominate. Neighbourhoods are located throughout rural UK.

Wider pattern

Typically married but no longer with resident dependent children, these well-educated households either remain working in their managerial, professional, administrative or other skilled occupations, or are retired from them – the modal individual age is beyond normal retirement age. Underoccupied detached and semi-detached properties predominate, and unpaid care is more prevalent than reported disability. The prevalence of this Supergroup outside most urban conurbations indicates that rural lifestyles prevail, typically sustained by using two or more cars per household.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles

Group

Inner London Working Professionals

Within London, Morison is most associated with areas classed as Inner London Working Professionals, part of Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles. This gives the surname a London-specific profile rather than forcing the capital into the same pattern as the rest of the country.

Read profile summary

Group profile

These primarily Inner London neighbourhoods are more densely populated than the Supergroup average. Residents have a younger over-all age profile than the Supergroup as a whole, and are less likely to be owner occupiers. Full time employment is more common than elsewhere in the Supergroup and multiple car ownership is uncommon. Chinese and non-EU-born European migrants are less in evidence than elsewhere in the Supergroup.

Wider London pattern

These neighbourhoods house people of all ages, predominantly of White British or European extraction. Resident turnover is low. Religious affiliation is less common than average and tends to be Christian if expressed. Homeownership, typically of terraced houses, is common but use of the social rented sector is not. Employment is typically in professional, managerial and associate professional or technical occupations. There are few full-time students. Level 4 qualifications are common. More households lack dependent children than have them which, considered alongside low levels of crowding and over-all age structure, indicates that many households may be post child-rearing and in late middle age. Incidence of disability is low, as is residence in communal establishments.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Morison is most concentrated in decile 4 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname near the middle of the scale.

Lower deciles point towards weaker access to healthy assets or stronger exposure to local hazards. Higher deciles point towards stronger access and fewer hazards.

4
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Morison falls in decile 7 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname near the middle of the scale.

Decile 1 represents the more deprived end of the scale. Decile 10 represents the less deprived end.

7
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Morison is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of 30-40 mbit/s.

The scale below places that band in context, from slower local download bands through to faster ones.

6
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

This describes the area pattern most associated with Morison, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

Meaning and origin of Morison

The surname Morison is of Scottish origin, derived from the Medieval English given name "Muir," meaning "moor" or "heath." It is believed to have originated in the 13th century in the Scottish Lowlands and Borders regions.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which contain the name "William Morison" from Berwickshire. The Ragman Rolls were a series of homage rolls recording those who swore fealty to Edward I of England during his campaigns in Scotland.

In the 14th century, the name appeared in various forms, such as "Murison," "Murisoun," and "Morisoun," reflecting the spelling variations common in that era. These variations likely stemmed from the pronunciation of the name and regional dialects.

The surname Morison is also associated with several place names in Scotland, such as Morrisonhaven in Stirlingshire and Morrisontown in Midlothian. These place names may have influenced the spelling and pronunciation of the surname over time.

Notable individuals with the surname Morison throughout history include:

1. Robert Morison (1620-1683), a Scottish botanist and the first Professor of Botany at the University of Oxford. 2. James Morison (1770-1848), a Scottish hymnologist and founder of the Evangelical Union, a Christian movement in Scotland. 3. Stanley Morison (1889-1967), a renowned English typographer and scholar responsible for designing several typefaces, including Times New Roman. 4. Samuel Eliot Morison (1887-1976), an American historian and author who wrote extensively about maritime history and the European exploration of the Americas. 5. Jim Morison (1935-2020), a Scottish footballer who played for Hibernian and the Scottish national team in the 1950s and 1960s.

While the surname Morison has its roots in Scotland, it has since spread to other parts of the world, particularly through Scottish emigration and the British diaspora.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Morison families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Morison surname. Use the location tables for concentration, then the name and occupation tables for the people behind the surname.

Top counties

Total is the county count. Frequency and index adjust for local population size, so they are better concentration signals. Ross-shire leads with 395 Morisons recorded in 1881 and an index of 96.57x.

County Total Index
Ross-shire 395 96.57x
Inverness-shire 127 28.55x
Aberdeenshire 121 8.77x
Lanarkshire 117 2.43x
Midlothian 114 5.71x
Middlesex 82 0.55x
Perthshire 63 9.42x
Banffshire 44 14.24x
Renfrewshire 44 3.81x
Angus 38 2.75x
Ayrshire 35 3.14x
Argyllshire 33 7.96x
Surrey 33 0.45x
Northumberland 27 1.22x
Lancashire 23 0.13x
Yorkshire 23 0.16x
Kincardineshire 17 9.37x
Essex 14 0.48x
Kinross-shire 14 37.18x
Cheshire 13 0.40x
Durham 13 0.29x
Fife 13 1.47x
Hampshire 10 0.33x
Cumberland 9 0.70x
Dunbartonshire 9 2.25x
Clackmannanshire 8 6.50x
Kent 8 0.16x
Devon 7 0.23x
Hertfordshire 7 0.68x
Stirlingshire 6 1.09x
West Lothian 6 2.67x
Denbighshire 5 0.89x
Morayshire 5 2.16x
Orkney 5 3.05x
Sussex 5 0.20x
Berwickshire 4 2.22x
Pembrokeshire 4 0.85x
Peeblesshire 3 4.28x
Warwickshire 3 0.08x
Bedfordshire 2 0.26x
Channel Islands 2 0.45x
Dumfriesshire 2 0.61x
Gloucestershire 2 0.07x
Berkshire 1 0.09x
Buteshire 1 1.11x
Derbyshire 1 0.04x
East Lothian 1 0.51x
Glamorgan 1 0.04x
Isle of Man 1 0.36x
Lincolnshire 1 0.04x
Merionethshire 1 0.37x
Roxburghshire 1 0.37x
Selkirkshire 1 0.74x
Somerset 1 0.04x
Staffordshire 1 0.02x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Stornoway in Ross-shire leads with 178 Morisons recorded in 1881 and an index of 333.83x.

Place Total Index
Stornoway 178 333.83x
Lochs 104 319.31x
Uig 98 528.59x
Edinburgh St Cuthberts 57 7.10x
Harris 54 241.50x
Govan 43 3.61x
Kilmorack 36 266.86x
Barony 34 2.79x
Cairney 34 422.89x
Aberdeen St Nicholas 24 9.30x
Rothiemay 20 285.31x
Hackney London 19 2.28x
Glasgow 18 2.10x
Aberdeen Old Machar 17 5.90x
Kilninian Kilmore 16 125.89x
South Leith 16 7.13x
Orwell 14 134.87x
Wallsend 14 19.92x
Abbey 13 7.38x
Lambeth 12 0.92x
Shoreditch London 12 1.86x
West Greenock 12 5.79x
Edinburgh St Marys 11 28.36x
St Andrew Holborn 10 19.80x
Dundee 9 1.75x
Fetteresso 9 31.66x
Forteviot 9 281.25x
Jesmond 9 28.86x
Monzievaird Strowan 9 251.40x
Arbirlot 8 190.48x
Ardrossan 8 20.73x
Camberwell 8 0.84x
Culross 8 138.17x
Forgue 8 64.57x
Kilmalcolm 8 57.85x
Kilmarnock 8 6.03x
Methven 8 81.63x
Riccarton 8 47.56x
Rutherglen 8 11.32x
St Mary Extra 8 32.56x
Trumisgarry 8 178.17x
Alloa 7 11.73x
Caldewgate 7 9.96x
Cheadle 7 11.15x
Kensington London 7 0.85x
Leeds 7 0.84x
Linthorpe 7 7.95x
Pitsligo 7 53.07x
Row 7 13.52x
South Uist 7 22.55x
Barry 6 36.23x
Callander 6 54.45x
Chipping Barnet 6 33.41x
Colinton 6 26.97x
Fordoun 6 59.06x
Inverness 6 5.36x
Kildalton 6 54.79x
Kintail 6 170.45x
Monifieth 6 12.31x
Ochiltree 6 78.23x
Peterhead 6 8.22x
St Marylebone London 6 0.75x
Banff 5 18.64x
Blairgowrie 5 18.91x
Botriphnie 5 140.06x
Broadhempston 5 173.01x
Croydon 5 1.24x
Edinburgh Canongate 5 9.85x
Foveran 5 47.89x
Friern Barnet 5 15.24x
Glenelg 5 61.20x
Hetton Le Hole 5 8.90x
Kinnoull 5 28.44x
Lanark 5 12.90x
Old Deer 5 19.13x
Panbride 5 69.54x
Portree 5 30.38x
Rothes 5 44.29x
Stronsay Eday 5 46.64x
West Derby 5 0.97x

Top female names

These are the female first names most often recorded with the Morison surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
Mary 19
Margaret 14
Alice 10
Catherine 8
Elizabeth 7
Jane 7
Ann 4
Isabella 4
Sarah 4
Charlotte 3
Eliza 3
Fanny 3
Agnes 2
Amy 2
Christiana 2
Clara 2
Edith 2
Emma 2
Frances 2
Katherine 2
Leucadia 2
Lucy 2
Olive 2
Alexdra.M. 1
Annie 1
Barbara 1
Blanca 1
C. 1
Caroline 1
E. 1
Eliz. 1
Ellen 1
Emily 1
Emly 1
Enriqueta 1
Euphemia 1
Florence 1
Francis 1
Harriett 1
Helen 1
Isabel 1
Josephine 1
Laura 1
Leonora 1
Lilian 1
Lily 1
Lina.B. 1
Lizzie 1
Louisa 1
Viola 1

Top male names

These are the male first names most often recorded with the Morison surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
William 22
James 20
John 17
Thomas 12
Alfred 5
George 5
Robert 5
Alexander 4
Henry 4
Charles 3
Daniel 3
Donald 3
Walter 3
Boswell 2
David 2
Hector 2
Joseph 2
Ambrose 1
Ashton 1
Augustus 1
Basil 1
Bruce 1
Edward 1
Ernst 1
Francis 1
Frank 1
Frederick 1
G. 1
Geo. 1
Geo.James 1
Geo.Mc 1
Gocelyn 1
Herbert 1
Jas. 1
Jas.Archd.Caml. 1
Lennox 1
Matthew 1
Morris 1
Murdoch 1
Oliver 1
Peter 1
Robt. 1
Roderick 1
Sam 1
Sandey 1
Therdore 1
Tho. 1
Thos. 1
Whiston 1
Willim 1

FAQ

Morison surname: questions and answers

How common was the Morison surname in 1881?

In 1881, 1,534 people were recorded with the Morison surname. That placed it at #2,737 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Morison surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 610 in 2016. That gives Morison a modern rank of #8,601.

What does the Morison surname mean?

A Scottish and English surname derived from the nickname for someone of small stature.

What does the Morison map show?

The map shows local surname concentration for the selected year. Darker areas have a stronger concentration of Morison bearers relative to the surrounding population.

What records is this surname page based on?

The historical counts come from census surname records. The modern counts and neighbourhood summaries come from later surname distribution records. Counts are recorded bearers in those records, not a live estimate of everyone with the name today.