Morehouse

Etymology

This name is generally taken as a variant of Moorhouse, from Old English or Middle English elements meaning “moor” and “house.” In that sense, it originally described someone who lived at or near a house on open moorland, or who came from a place called Moorhouse. The spelling with -e- in Morehouse is a later variant spelling rather than a different root.

History

Nineteenth-century surname writers explicitly treated Morehouse as a form of Moorhouse. The name appears in English records and later in the United States, where it was carried by immigrants and their descendants. It is not especially common, but it has remained recognizable in English-speaking countries.

Origin

Regions

Variant spellings

Fun fact

Some older reference works list Morehouse simply as a cross-reference to Moorhouse, showing how fluid surname spelling could be before modern standardization.

Related surnames