Linguistics of the Murdoch surname

The name Murdoch comes from the Q-Celtic words mur - sea, murchadh - sea warrior, muireach - mariner. Q-Celtic is the most ancient form of Celtic probably dating back to 1000BC and is now represented by Gaelic and Irish. As a first name it is therefore very ancient indeed.

As a surname I believe evidence points to a murchadh - sea warrior origin and Norse settlers for most Murdochs. Victorian 'research' and the many books which blindly repeated it often associate the name Murdoch with either Clans Macdonald and MacPherson. For most people with the name this probably just isn't true. It's a complete 'red herring' and your ancestors probably came from Galloway in SW Scotland or Moray/Banff in the NE.

The name has evolved into many forms:

• Murdoch, a forename but used later as surname in Scotland and Ireland
• Murdo forename.
• Murchie, Murchison, Macmurchie, Macmurdoch, Murdoson
• Murdie a rare Sutherland name.
• Irish Murphy and Moriarty are from the same root.
• Irish and W Scot Morrow.

The 'ch' sound (as in loch, or German Ich) is not present in English, so as people of Gaelic/Irish/Norse origins migrated south in the 8-11thC, Anglicised versions with a 'k' ending evolved. A second phase of this evolution probably occured with James VI's inheritance of England from 1603, and a third in North America with later generations of Scots immigrants adopting a more Anglicised tongue:

• Murdac and Murdoc common in the Norman/English Doomsday Book
• Murdock, Murduck, Murdack, Mardock, Moordock thus evolved

Similarly, the English tongue tends not to emphasise the 'r' sound as strongly as Gaelic or Scots, the 'r' was dropped giving rise to:

• Muddock and Muttock

In United States, pre-1870 spelling tended to be phonetic and this also contributed to the evolution to today's varied forms.

This table shows an astonishing variance in use of 'h' or 'k'. The most obvious explanation lies in how long ago most of the original families left Scotland for that particular country. Anglicisation of the surname takes place through time. Also, the anglicisation process will take place in different countries at different rates. To further complicate, spelling with a 'k' may well have been more common in the past in Scotland even though it is very rare now. Worldwide there are now similar numbers of 'k's than 'h's.

Data source - online telephone directories.