Maurice
MAW-riss
A classic saintly name tied to the Latin Mauritius, with an older sense of “Moorish” or “dark.”
Meaning
Maurice is traditionally connected with Latin Mauritius, a form associated with the idea of being Moorish or dark. The excerpt also notes a French route for the name, and one source suggests a possible folk-etymological link with French words for marshes, though that claim is presented tentatively in the source material.
Origin
LatinFrenchEnglishmasculine
Fun fact
One excerpt notes that some writers connected Maurice with Mauritius, while another says the reverse may be true in some cases—showing how tangled saint-name histories can get.
Confidence: mixed. Sources: History of Christian Names, Praenomina; or, the etymology of the principal Christian names of Great Britain and Ireland.