Murduck

Murduck One-Name Study

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About the study

Our study focuses primarily on all instances of MURDUCK as a surname, worldwide, through all time periods. The study has been active since 1984.

Variant names

As surnames have become standardized in spelling only in recent decades, it has been necessary to consider a wide range of spelling possibilities when attempting to trace usage and origin of MURDUCK as a distinctive surname. The predominant variations considered extend immediately to MURDOCH and MURDOCK, but also include such variations, many of them phonetic, as MATTICKS, MATTOCKS, MOORDOCK, MURDICK, MUDDOCK, MUTTOCK, and so on. A full list of variant spellings considered within the context of our study can be obtained by contacting the study coordinator, through the email address provided below.

Name origin

The origin of the surname MURDUCK is clouded in mystery. Was it of Scottish origin, or French? Was it associated with sea based fishing, as some students of surnames have thought likely? Any thoughts on the matter would be welcome.

Historical occurrences of the name

The earliest instance of MURDUCK as a distinctive surname is found in records from west central England, which date from the late 1500s. The surname appears to have been in use across several generations, before morphing into the more common MURDOCK, a process which seems to have been complete in this area by about the time of the English Civil War.

A large family group, members of which can today be found in England, Canada, and the USA, can be traced to a point of origin in Essex County, England, in the mid-1600s.

Two large family groups using this surname can be traced throughout the United States, with currently known points of origin in upstate New York, about 1785, and in Bedford County, Virginia, in about the same time.

Of course, records concerning members of other smaller family groups, and many individuals who have used or been given this distinctive surname spelling can also be found in records across a broad expanse of space and time - in England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, the United States of America, Australia, and New Zealand.

There are hints that the name is re-surfacing in the area around Greater London, England, today, from a group possibly of Iranian origin.

Prior to the appearance of MURDUCK as a distinctive surname in records from west central England, which date from the late 1500s, derivatives like MORDAC, MORDOC and MURDOC have been found in records extending back through the Middle Ages.

Name frequency

MURDUCK as a surname is not, and has not ever been, very common. There are only a handful of individuals alive today who use this as their distinctive surname. Morphing of surname spelling from MURDUCK to MURDOCH and MURDOCK has certainly been common throughout space and time, and many MURDOCKs living in the USA today can be shown to have been MURDUCKs in previous times.

Distribution of the name

As details are developed, facts, figures, and discussions about the historic and current distribution of this unique surname will be presented under The Murduck Net (www.murduck.net)

Data

A broad range of original and derivative records, dating from the 14th century to the present day, have been consulted in the course of this study, so far. Data gathering, and resultant relationship and family reconstruction exercises, have been ongoing in uninterrupted fashion since 1984. Please contact the study coordinator, through the email link provided below, to inquire about the study, or to provide information that might be of wider use.

As they are compiled, accounts, biographies, stories, genealogies and family histories pertaining to individuals and family groups from across the spectrum of surname spellings can be found at The Murduck Net (www.murduck.net)

DNA

The Murdock (and variations) Family Tree & DNA Linkage Project was launched in 2008. While focusing more broadly on a wider range of surname spellings as found in the MARDOCK - MUDDOCK - MURDICK - MURDOCH - MURDOCK - MURDUCK - MUTTOX grouping, the Project hopes to use DNA coding results to break down barriers to understanding that exist because of incomplete or missing paper records. Growth in the number of participants in the DNA component of our study of almost 1000% has been experienced since 2008.

A fairly complete list of surname spelling variations which fall within Project parameters, Project goals and DNA data associated with Project participants to date, can be found at http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Murdock/. If you have one of the surnames that falls within our Project parameters, please consider participating yourself. Contact the study coordinator, through the email link below, for answers to questions or for more information about the Project.

Please give serious consideration to joining our Project. The more who participate, the broader will become our knowledge.

Links

Accounts, Biographies, Stories, Genealogies and Family Histories of people who have been known with the surname MURDUCK across all time periods and all locations: The Murduck Net (www.murduck.net)

Details about The Murdock (and variations) Family Tree & DNA Linkage Project can be found at http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Murdock/. Please consider joining us!

Contact

Mr Bruce Murduck

Is your surname registered?