Murphy

What Murphy means

Means “descendant of Murrough”

From Irish Ó Murchadha (“descendant of Murrough”), Mac Murchaidh (“Son of Murrough”), etc.

Source: Wiktionary, “Murphy” (revision 93580748), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Murphy?

US: Rising: up from #2152 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #3615 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 783 girls got the name (#397 that year). First in the US records in 1898.

How common

• About 1 in 2,053 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 4,871 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 4,473 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in MT (3.89 per 1,000 girls), SD (3.6 per 1,000 girls), NE (2.54 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Murphy is #397 in the US and #705 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 69.7% of US babies named Murphy were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Murphee15 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Murphy

Girls

• Fallon#778“descendant of Fallamhan”^*
• Blake#295“black”^*
• Merritt#703Editor’s note Used for both: 77% of US babies named Merritt in 2025 were girls
• Sutton#181“south + town”^*
• Blakely#191Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #191 vs #1,407 in 2025
• Darcy#857“to burn, consume”^*

For a brother

• Ridge#529From the word “ridge”^*
• Bellamy#721“fair + friend”^*
• Wells#345“spring”^*
• Wesley#52“west + wood, clearing”^*
• Wallace#960“foreign”^*
• Houston#675“Hugh s town”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Murphy’s. Rank is US 2025.