Murdock / Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Murdock / Family History

Murdock / Family History

The ancient origin of the name Murdock was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. Murdock is a baptismal name meaning 'the son of Murdoch', a name of great antiquity. It is derived from the Norse words for 'sea warrior'. Variants of the name include Murdoc, Murdy and Murdoch. This name is of Celtic origin and is found throughout England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It is recorded in many mediaeval manuscripts in these countries. Examples of such are a Job Nutt and a Sarah Murdock, who were married in Canterbury in the year 1680. The Murdocks were recorded as landowners in Yorkshire, Sussex, and Oxfordshire and were either Gaels or Norsemen of Irish descent.

In Ireland this name and its variants were introduced into Ulster Province by settlers who arrived from England and Scotland, especially during the seventeenth century. During the 'Plantations of Ireland' in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Ireland was colonized by the English Crown with this period marking the end of Gaelic supremacy in Ireland. This period brought an influx of settlers into the country but, unlike the earlier Anglo-Norman invasion of the twelfth century that resulted in a full integration into Irish society of the new arrivals, the same never occurred with the Ulster Planters who maintained their own distinct identity.

Murdock is also an occasional variant of the name Murtagh, derived from the native Gaelic O'Muircheartaigh sept of County Meath. The Murdock family crest (or coat of arms) came into existence many centuries ago. The process of creating these coats of arms began as early as the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this, including Ireland. The new more formalized art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own family crest, coat of arms, including Murdock descendants.