Moore (surname)

[3] It can have several meanings and derivations, as it appeared as a surname long before written language had developed in most of the population, resulting in a variety of spellings.

Variations of the name can appear as Moore, More or Moor; as well as the Scottish Gaelic originations Muir, Mure and Mor/Mór; the Manx Gaelic origination Moar; the Irish originations O'More and Ó Mórdha; and the later Irish variants O'Moore and de Mora.

The name also arises as an anglicisation of the Welsh epithet Mawr meaning great or large.

[4] The similarly pronounced surname Mohr is of Germanic lineage and is not related to the Gaelic/English variations.

In the United States, "Moore" ranked 9th among all surnames in the 1990 census, accounting for 0.3% of the population.