Morgan History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Etymology of Morgan

What does the name Morgan mean?

The Morgan name is Celtic in origin, arising from the ancient Britons of Wales. It comes from the Old Welsh personal name Morcant, composed of the Welsh elements “mor,” meaning “sea,” and cant meaning “circle.”

Early Origins of the Morgan family

The surname Morgan was first found in Caernarvonshire (Welsh: Sir Gaernarfon), a former county in Northwest Wales, anciently part of the Kingdom of Gwynedd, and today divided between the unitary authorities of Gwynedd and Conwy. The surname is derived from the “Welsh personal name of high antiquity. The founder of the Pelagain heresy, in the fourth century, was a true Welshman and a monk of Bangor. His name was Morgan, which signifies ‘Of the Sea’ and this was correctly Latinized Pelagius. The Morgans of Golden Grove, co. Flint, descend from Marchudd ap Cynan, founder of the eighth noble tribe of North Wales and Powys. ” 1

Morgan Spelling Variations

There are relatively few surnames native to Wales, but they have an inordinately large number of spelling variations. Early variations of Welsh surnames can be explained by the fact that very few people in the early Middle Ages were literate. Priests and the few other literate people were responsible for recording names in official documents. And because most people could not specific how to properly record their names it was up to the individual recorder of that time to determine how a spoken name should be recorded. Variations due to the imprecise or improper recording of a name continued later in history when names originally composed in the Brythonic Celtic, language of Wales, known by natives as Cymraeg, were transliterated into English. Welsh names that were documented in English often changed dramatically since the native language of Wales, which was highly inflected, did not copy well. Occasionally, however, spelling variations were carried out according to an individual’s specific design: a branch loyalty within the family, a religious adherence, or even patriotic affiliations could be indicated by minor variations. The spelling variations of the name Morgan have included Morgan, Morgen, Morgain, Morgaine and others.

Early Notables of the Morgan family

Prominent amongst the family during the late Middle Ages was

• Admiral Sir Henry Morgan (ca. 1635-1688), Welsh pirate who raided Spanish ships and settlements in the Caribbean, and became acting Governor of Jamaica (1680-1682)
• William Morgan (1560-1653), a Welsh politician who sat in the House of Commons of England in 1624 and 1625, supporter of the Royalist cause in the English Civil War
• Thomas Morgan (c.1589-1664), a Welsh politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1654
• Major-General Sir Thomas Morgan, 1st Baronet (1604-1679), a Welsh soldier during the English Civil War, Commander-in-Chief in Scotland during the Restoration
• Robert Morgan (1608-1673), a Welsh bishop of Bangor
• William Morgan (died 1690), English cartographer, best known for his large map of the City of London