Maurice is a traditionally masculine given name, also used as a surname. It originates as a French name derived from the Latin Mauritius or Mauricius and was subsequently used in other languages. Its popularity is due to Mauritius, a saint of the Theban Legion (died 287). Mauritius is otherwise attested as a given name of the Roman Empire period, in origin meaning "one from Mauretania", i.e. "the Moor".
Forms in other languages include: Latvian Māris, Spanish Mauricio, Portuguese Maurício, Italian Maurizio, Dutch Maurits, Greek Μαυρίκιος (Mavrikios), Russian Маврикий (Mavrikiy), German Moritz, Czech Mořic, English Morris. In the form Morris, it is also used as a secularized version of the Jewish name Moishe.
Contents
Given name
Late Antiquity to Middle Ages
Saint Maurice also Moritz, Morris, or Mauritius (died 287), Roman-Egyptian legionnaire and Christian martyr
Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius novus Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor
Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), bishop of London, Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper of England
Maurice of Carnoet (1117–1191), French abbot and saint
Maurice, Count of Oldenburg (fl. 1169–1211), count of Oldenburg
Mauritius (Dean of Armagh) (fl. 13th century), Irish cleric, Dean of Armagh 1238
Maurice of Inchaffray (14th century), Scottish bishop
Maurice Spata (14th to early 15th century), Albanian ruler of Arta from 1399 to 1414/15
Early Modern
Maurice, Elector of Saxony (1521–1553), German Saxon nobleman
Maurice, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (1551–1612), duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel or Maurice the Learned (1572–1632), Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange (1567–1625), stadtholder of the Netherlands
Maurice of Savoy (1593–1657), prince of Savoy and a cardinal
Maurice, Duke of Saxe-Zeitz (1619–1681), duke of Saxe-Zeitz
Maurice of the Palatinate (1620–1652), Count Palatine of the Rhine
William Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen (1649–1691), prince of Nassau-Siegen
Modern
Maurice of Battenberg (1891–1914), prince of the Battenberg family and member of the British Royal Family
Maurice of the Netherlands (1843–1850), prince of Orange-Nassau
Maurice Anderson (born 1975), American football player
Maurice Bailey (died 2018), formerly missing person lost at sea
Maurice Baker (born 1979), American basketball player and coach
Maurice Banks (born 1983), American football coach
Maurice De Bevere (1923–2001), Belgian cartoonist
Maurice Binder (1918–1991), American film title designer
Maurice Blanchot (1907–2003), French writer, philosopher, and literary theorist
Maurice Bowra (1898–1971), English classical scholar and academic
Maurice de Bus (1907–1963), French sculptor
Maurice Riemer Calhoun, Sr., known as Riemer Calhoun (1909–1994), American politician
Maurice Chevalier, (1888–1972), French actor, singer and entertainer
Maurice Cole (disambiguation), several people
Maurice Cowling (1926–2005), British historian
Maurice Cox (born 1972), American basketball player
Fictional characters
Maurice, a character from the 1991 and 2017 films based on Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve's Beauty and the Beast.
Maurice, Samantha Steven's father in Bewitched.
Maurice, a monster character in the 1989 film Little Monsters
Maurice the gorilla, character in the 1990s American animated television series Raw Toonage, and it's spinoff series Marsupilami, voiced by Jim Cummings
Maurice Lalonde (Highlander character), character in the television program Highlander: The Series
Maurice Levy (The Wire), character in the television program The Wire
Maurice Moss, character from the British sitcom The IT Crowd
Rap Master Maurice, a character portrayed by artist Derek Erdman
Sonic Maurice Hedgehog, real name of Sonic the Hedgehog in the Archie Comics
Maurice Hall, protagonist in the book Maurice by E.M. Forster
Maurice Conchis from the novel 'The Magus' by John Fowles
Maurice a character from the novel 'Undersea Reincarnation' by calcroissant
Maurice, a virtuous orangutan who acts as adviser to the noble chimpanzee leader Caesar on Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and War of the Planet of the Apes.
Maurice Minnifield, ex-astronaut, entrepreneur, and unofficial mayor of the fictional Cicely, Alaska in Northern Exposure.
Surname
Arthur Bartlett Maurice (1873–1946), American editor of the Woodbridge (NJ) Register
Benoît Maurice (born 1971), French football central defender
Charles G. Maurice (1911–1997), American teacher of dentistry and pioneer of endodontics
Clément Maurice (1853–1933), French photographer
David Maurice (1626–1702), Welsh priest and translator
David M. Maurice (1922–2002), British ophthalmologist
Emil Maurice (1897–1972), German watchmaker and senior Nazi Party official
Florian Maurice (born 1974), French footballer
Frederick Barton Maurice (1871–1951), British general, military correspondent, writer and academic
Frederick Denison Maurice (1805–1872), British author, theologian, and socialist
Henry Maurice (minister) (1634–1682), Welsh priest who became an Independent minister
Henry Maurice (theologian) (c. 1647 – 1691), Welsh clergyman and professor
Henry Gascoyne Maurice (1847–1950), English zoologist
Hugh Maurice (1775–1825), transcriber of Welsh manuscripts
James Maurice (1814–1884), American politician from New York