Marrs
Usually a locational surname, likely meaning someone from Marr in Scotland or from a place linked to a marsh or mere.
The #6,063 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 54,568 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally taken as a place-name surname. The historical notes connect it with the district of Marr in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and also with older English place-words such as Old English or Middle English words for a mere, marsh, or boundary. The final -s may reflect a regional or possessive-looking form rather than a separate root.
History
The surname appears in historical records as both Marr and Marrs, and one 19th-century source specifically treats the Scotch Marrs as coming from the district of Marr in Aberdeenshire. Elsewhere, scholars noted that similar forms could arise from English place-names linked to wetlands or boundary features. The name is not especially common, but it has persisted in both Britain and the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same short surname has been linked by different early writers to both Scottish geography and old words for water or borders, showing how easily place-based names can converge in spelling.
From the historical record
“Marr.— Local, * of Man-,' a small parish four miles from Doncaster. The Scotch Marrs are from the district of Marr, in Aberdeenshire. Johannes de Merre, 1379 ^ P- T. Yorks. p. '{2.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)