Murphy

Murphy meaning

Murphy is an international unisex name of Irish origin, used for both girls and boys.

Descendant of Murchadh, "sea-warrior"

Also used to mean: sea warrior

Murphy is the English form of the Irish surname Ó Murchadha, "descendant of Murchadh". Patrick Woulfe's Irish Names and Surnames explains Murchadh, an ancient Irish personal name, as "sea-warrior", from an early Celtic form, Mori-catus. Woulfe records several separate families of the name, in Tyrone, Sligo and Wexford, and notes that by his day it was very numerous throughout Leinster. In America it is used as a first name for girls and boys, helped by the television newswoman Murphy Brown. It is said MUR-fee.

Source: Patrick Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923) · entry Ó Murchadha · See the entry · checked 27 Oct 2026

References: Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames, Ó Murchadha (Library Ireland) · Woulfe, Murchadh (Library Ireland) · Wikipedia, Murphy Brown

Popularity abroad

• #397 United States, girls 2025 (up 79 from 476 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #593 England and Wales, boys 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Related names

Also meaning water

Also starting with Mur-

More names of Irish origin

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