Morehead
An English and Scottish surname likely formed from a place-style name meaning “moor head” or “upland ridge.”
The #4,636 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 40,343 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Morehead is most likely a habitational or topographic surname built from Middle English mor, more “moor” or “heath” plus heved, hed, “head, end, hilltop, or ridge.” In plain terms, it probably originally referred to someone living at or near the head of a moorland or an elevated, barren stretch of ground. The spelling has also overlapped with similar-looking forms such as Muirhead in Scottish records, which may reflect dialect and spelling variation rather than a single fixed origin.
History
The name appears in historical records in several spelling forms, including Morehead, Moorehead, and Muirhead, suggesting that scribes often rendered it phonetically. In Scotland, similar names were attached to local topographic features and then spread with migration. In later centuries the surname became established in both Britain and North America, where it remains uncommon but recognizable.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because medieval and early modern spelling was so fluid, Morehead can sometimes sit right next to Muirhead in older lists even when the families were not necessarily identical.
From the historical record
“Moorehead. Mooreheed. Morehead. Muirhead. MORAN. [M'Morran]. Moarn.”
— Varieties and Synonymes of Surnames and Christian Names in Ireland