Morgan

The name that named a kingdom, Morgannwg's enduring patronym.

Origin: Morgannwg, Wales
Famous bearer: Sir Henry Morgan (c.1635–1688), privateer, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica
Register: Welsh family

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The 10 Most Powerful Welsh Houses of All Time

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Territory of Morgan

CoreHistoric reach

The seat of Morgan

Seat vacant

Chief

No one leads the Morgan community yet. When the movement opens, you can stand for its leadership, or help elect whoever does.

Current mission

No shared goal set yet. Once Morgan has leadership, it sets the public focus: a restoration, a gathering, a real-world project that helps its own.

The Morgan clan is being rebuilt. Join the waiting list for the movement today, and you help decide who leads it and what it does.

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What does the Morgan name mean?

From an Old Welsh personal name, Morcant in Old Welsh, perhaps from 'môr' (sea) + 'cant' (circle, host), or 'great and bright' in another reading. It was the name of an early king of Glamorgan whose realm, Morgannwg, took his name in turn. The surname Morgan is the personal name carried hereditarily without an 'ap' prefix.

The history of Morgan

Morgan is the great Glamorgan surname, anchored in the historic kingdom of Morgannwg whose name it shares. Density is highest across the south-east, the Vale of Glamorgan, the industrial valleys, and Gwent.

Sir Henry Morgan (c.1635–1688) of Llanrhymny in Glamorgan was the most successful privateer of the Caribbean Spanish wars, sacker of Portobelo, Maracaibo and Panama City, knighted by Charles II in 1674 and made Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica thereafter. The rum bears his face but the man was a planter and a magistrate by the end.

William Morgan (c.1545–1604), Bishop of Llandaff and then St Asaph, completed the first translation of the entire Bible into Welsh in 1588, the foundational text of modern Welsh literacy and the principal reason the Welsh language survived as a living vernacular when the languages around it (Cornish, Manx) did not.

Champions of the Morgan name

The bearers whose lives are inseparable from this surname. Each has its own page — biography, achievements, geography, connection to the family.

Daniel Morgan
The frontier rifleman of Welsh stock who turned a militia's planned retreat into a trap and destroyed Tarleton's column at the Cowpens in the cleanest tactical victory of the American Revolution.

Step Into History

Walk the streets and seats the Morgan name knew — a photoreal walk through time, on foot.

Step Into History · New

Walk Raglan Castle in 1645Enter →

The grandest castle-palace in Wales at its height — the moated Yellow Tower, fountain courts and long gallery, on the eve of the siege.

Step Into History · New

Walk Cardiff Docks in 1913Enter →

The greatest coal port on earth at its peak — the hoists and colliers, the Coal Exchange and the streets of Tiger Bay.

Notable bearers of the Morgan name

Sir Henry Morgan (c.1635–1688), privateer, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica
William Morgan (c.1545–1604), Bishop, translator of the Welsh Bible (1588)
J. P. Morgan (1837–1913), American financier of distant Welsh-Glamorgan ancestry

Stories of Morgan

The 1588 Welsh Bible
1588
In 1567 William Salesbury and Bishop Richard Davies had published a Welsh New Testament that was largely unreadable; the Welsh was over-Latinised, the spelling inconsistent. Wales needed a complete, idiomatic Bible in its own tongue or it would lose the language inside two generations. The man who delivered it was William Morgan, the rector of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, a village on the Welsh side of the Shropshire border. He worked at the translation through ten winters in the parsonage. In 1587 he took the manuscript to London and stayed at Christopher Barker's press for over a year, correcting every sheet himself. The book that came off the press in September 1588 saved the Welsh language. Cornish, which had no Bible, has six hundred speakers today. Welsh has nine hundred thousand.
Read the story →

Frequently asked

What does the surname Morgan mean?

Where does the Morgan family come from?

The Morgan family is rooted in Morgannwg, in Wales. Within that, the name was particularly concentrated in The Valleys and Bro Morgannwg. The atlas page for the name records the historical territory it has held over the centuries.

Where did the Morgan family historically hold territory?

At its greatest historical extent, the Morgan name has been concentrated in Cardiff, Abertawe & Gŵyr, Sir Fynwy, Casnewydd, Torfaen and Sir Gâr. The atlas page distinguishes the core territory of the name from this wider historical reach with hatched silhouettes on the map.

Is Morgan a Wales surname?

Yes, Morgan is a Wales surname. Its editorial home in this atlas is Wales, where the historical territory and family record of the name are concentrated.

How old is the Morgan surname?

Morgan is the great Glamorgan surname, anchored in the historic kingdom of Morgannwg whose name it shares. European hereditary surnames crystallised broadly between the 12th and 14th centuries, and the Morgan name took its modern form within that long settlement.

What is the Morgan family known for?

The name that named a kingdom, Morgannwg's enduring patronym. Morgan is the great Glamorgan surname, anchored in the historic kingdom of Morgannwg whose name it shares.

Who is the most famous Morgan?

The best-known bearer of the Morgan name is Sir Henry Morgan (c.1635–1688), privateer, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. Other prominent figures of the family include William Morgan (c.1545–1604), Bishop, translator of the Welsh Bible (1588) and J. P. Morgan (1837–1913), American financier of distant Welsh-Glamorgan ancestry.

Who are some famous Morgans?

Notable bearers of the Morgan name include Sir Henry Morgan (c.1635–1688), privateer, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica, William Morgan (c.1545–1604), Bishop, translator of the Welsh Bible (1588) and J. P. Morgan (1837–1913), American financier of distant Welsh-Glamorgan ancestry. Each is profiled on the family page, with cross-links to the geography, stories, and historical events tied to their life.

What stories are told about the Morgan family?

The Morgan family is associated with The 1588 Welsh Bible. Each story has its own page on this site with the full account, the date, the location, and the other families involved.

What is the story of the 1588 Welsh Bible?

In 1567 William Salesbury and Bishop Richard Davies had published a Welsh New Testament that was largely unreadable; the Welsh was over-Latinised, the spelling inconsistent. Wales needed a complete, idiomatic Bible in its own tongue or it would lose the language inside two generations. The event is dated to 1588.

Where is the Morgan surname found today?

Wales is the primary historical home of the Morgan surname. In the modern era, the name is also borne across the wider diaspora, particularly in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where families carry the line of descent from the same Wales origin recorded on this page.

What does the Clan Rising page for the Morgan family cover?

The Clan Rising page for the Morgan family covers the meaning of the surname, the historical geography of the name, famous bearers of the name, traditional stories and the seat of the head of the family. Each section is linked to the underlying atlas of Wales so the name can be read in the geography that shaped it.

Who is the head of the Morgan family today?

The seat for the head of the Morgan family is currently vacant on this register. Clan Rising is rebuilding the chief and family structure for the modern era, and the family page allows readers to claim the seat or pledge to the name.