1. English (Lancashire): of uncertain origin. The most plausible suggestion is that it is a Norman nickname from Old French mort ‘dead’ (Latin mortuus), presumably referring to a person of deathly pallor or unnaturally still countenance, or possibly to someone who played the part of death in a pageant. However, it could also be the result of survival into the Middle English period of an Old English personal name, Morta, or an Old English vocabulary word mort ‘young salmon or trout’, both postulated by Ekwall to explain various place names (see for example Morcom).

2. French: either a nickname from Old French mort ‘dead’ (see above), or an alteration, by folk etymology, of the personal name Mor(e) (see Moore 3).

See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.

Dictionary of American Family Names. Copyright © 2006 Patrick Hanks. All rights reserved.