Murphy

See also: murphy

English

Alternative forms

• (surname): Morphis

Etymology

From Irish Ó Murchadha (“descendant of Murrough”), Mac Murchaidh (“Son of Murrough”), etc. See Muircath.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmɝfi/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɜːfi/
• Homophone: murphy
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)fi

Proper noun

Murphy

1. A common surname from Irish, the anglicized form of Irish Ó Murchadha
   • 1847 March 30, Herman Melville, Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:

     After a long talk between these two, and a little broken English from the Frenchmen, our visitors took leave; but Father Murphy had hardly gone a dozen rods when back he came, inquiring whether we were in want of anything.

2. A unisex given name transferred from the surname, of occasional usage.
   • 2012, Louise Erdrich, The Round House, Corsair, published 2013, →ISBN, page 178:

     Sonja made me promise I would go to college. She said she'd wanted her daughter, Murphy, to go. She'd named her baby Murphy because it could never be a stripper name. But her daughter had changed her name to London.

3. A number of places in the United States:
   1. A census-designated place, the county seat of Owyhee County, Idaho.
   2. A census-designated place in Jefferson County, Missouri.
   3. A town, the county seat of Cherokee County, North Carolina.
   4. A city in Collin County, Texas.
   5. An unincorporated community in Buchanan County, Virginia.
   6. An unincorporated community in Barbour County, West Virginia.
4. A town in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina.

Derived terms

• in the arms of Murphy
• murphy
• Murphy bed
• Murphy drip
• Murphy game
• Murphy-Lane bone skid
• Murphysboro
• Murphy's button
• Murphy's law
• Murphy's punch
• Murphy's test

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Murphy is the 64^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 308,417 individuals. Murphy is most common among White (83.11%) and Black (11.53%) individuals.

Noun

Murphy (plural Murphies)

1. (slang) Short for Murphy game (“type of confidence trick”).

Verb

Murphy (third-person singular simple present Murphies, present participle Murphying, simple past and past participle Murphied)

1. (transitive, slang) To swindle by means of the Murphy game confidence trick.