Morse

Boys' name

Moor; dark, swarthy, through Morris

Morse has been given to 374 babies in the U.S. since 1913. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1926, with 19 recorded.

Babies named Morse, 1971

1 in 572,000

Morse over time, 1880–2025

Boys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Morse: meaning, origin, and history

Moor; dark, swarthy, through Morris

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Morse means

Morse belongs to the name family reached through Morse → Morris → Maurice. Its meaning is “Moor; dark, swarthy”.

Origin, language, and formation

Morse is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Morris and Maurice.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Morse is pronounced /ˈmɔː(ɹ)s/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 374 boys were recorded with the name Morse between 1913 and 1971. Its highest annual count was 19 in 1926; its best national rank was #1,746 in 1914.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Morse?

Morse had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1971, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1971: 1 in 572,000; 6 of 3,432,187 births
Among boys only: 1 in 295,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 1971: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 396,503 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Morse sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 1971 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 396,503 children born in 1971 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Morse. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Morses were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Morse was born before 1928 — so the typical Morse is around 97 today.

Median birth year: 1928; About 97 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 32.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 22.7%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 73; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 32.9% of all recorded uses (123).

Is Morse rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1926 (19)
Years since peak: 99; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 24.8% average annual change
Best rank ever: #1,746; 1914

Spellings of Morse

Morse is not the most common spelling — Jose is, with 63.5% against Morse's 0.04%.

Jose63.5%592,512
Jorge14.9%139,476
Moses4.6%43,291
Moises3.4%31,345
Merle3.3%30,666
Monte2.5%23,160
Moshe1.9%18,017
Monroe1.8%17,094

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Morse by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #1,746; 1914
Peak year: 1926; 19 that year
First recorded: 1913
Last recorded: 1971
All-time count: 374
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Morse

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Morey Moris Moritz Mordche Mordy Mory Morad Moroni Morrie Morley Morocco Morgen Pearse Morio Morty Morry Mori Dorse Mort Moran Verse Moriah Mordcha Morgon

Sibling names for Morse

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Berta Delma Allene Darline Concepcion Easter Leatrice Pearline

For a brother

Jewel Napoleon Raymon Domenick Hosea Rollin Wilburn Wilford

Explore around Morse

Top names of 1926, Morse's peak year The 1920s in full Other names that peaked in 1914 Boys' names starting with M