Moritz

← Back to Ancient Rome

Boy · Latin, through German

Moritz

Say it: MOH-rits

Try it with your surname

Meaning

German form of Maurice, from Latin Mauritius 'Moorish, of Mauretania'.

Likelythe main view, with some doubt.

Familiar from the 1865 children's book Max und Moritz and popular again today.

Its wave through time

Rare in the records

In the United States

134 babies given this name since 1925
At its height in 2013, about 1 in 171,700 boys
Fewer than 5 babies a year in 2020

Through the ages

Used by

German Austrian Swiss

The family of the name

English	Maurice
French	Maurice
Italian	Maurizio
Dutch	Maurits

Famous bearers

Maurice of Saxony (Moritz von Sachsen), elector

Names worth a look

KasparBoyTraditional name of one of the three Magi; its origin is uncertain, perhaps Persian for 'treasurer'.Middle Ages

GottfriedBoyFrom Germanic god/got 'god' and frid 'peace'; some read the first element as 'good'.Middle Ages · forgotten

ErasmusBoyFrom Greek erasmios 'beloved, lovely'.Early Medieval · forgotten

EmmerichBoyUncertain: derived variously from Amalric (amal + ric) or from heim + ric.Middle Ages · forgotten

MartinusBoyDerived from Mars, the Roman god of war.Rome

VitusBoyOrigin uncertain; often linked to vita 'life', which is not proven.Rome

MartinBoyFrom Latin Martinus, derived from Mars.Early Medieval · peak 1880

MyrtleGirlThe shrub, from Greek myrtos.Victorian · peak 1895 · forgotten

Where this comes from

Well-known works of literature
National birth statistics of European countries source
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.