MUSGRAVE
The surname *Musgrave* is a historic English locational name that originates from the north of England, notably the villages of Great Musgrave and Little Musgrave in the county now known as Cumbria. It was first recorded in the early twelfth century as *Musegrave* and later appears in the 1292 “Records of Pleas” as *Magna Musegrave* and *Parva Musegrave*, the Latinised terms for Great and Little Musgrave. The place name itself is derived from a combination of Old English and Old Norse elements. The first element is *mus*, meaning “mouse” in Old English, or it may come from the Old Norse byname *Musi*, and the second element is *graf*, an Old English word for a grove or thicket. Hence the name can be interpreted as “mouse grove” or “grove frequented by mice”, or as “Musi’s grove”.
The earliest extant record of the surname is found in the Curia Rolls of Northumberland in 1228, where an *Alan de Musegrave* is named. Earlier mentions include *Roger de Mussegrave* in 1277 (London) and *Thomas de Musgraue* in 1362 (Yorkshire). In 1581 the name appears in the University of Oxford register as *John Mosgrove*, and local Yorkshire church registers record marriages and christenings of Musgraves from the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. These documentary sources show that the name was firmly established in the north of England by the fourteenth century and that it was borne by a family of some standing.
The name is also recorded as a Norman French term *musgreve* or *mosgreve*, meaning “chief of a marsh” or a steward in a marshland area. This alternative derivation reflects the period after the Norman conquest of 1066, when many French surnames were introduced into English society. The Musgrave family obtained a coat of arms in 1308 as a reward for loyalty in royal service. The heraldic description for Sir Thomas Musgrave, who served in the reign of Edward II (1327‑1377), is a red field bearing six gold annulets arranged three, two and one. Another version of the arms, granted in 1375, features a stag’s head couped with a red collar, a motif that has become closely associated with the family’s heraldry.
The surname remains common throughout the United Kingdom, especially in the North of England. In Ireland it is most frequently encountered in the Ulster counties of Donegal, Cavan, Armagh and Tyrone. The Musgrave name is also well established in the southern Scottish counties, notably Ayrshire, where it is more numerous than in England. From the seventeenth century onward, bearers of the name emigrated to North America. In Canada they are predominantly found in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, while in the United States the surname appears largely in the New England and Mid‑Atlantic regions. The continued presence of the name in these areas is evidence of the early ties between the Musgrave family and trans‑Atlantic migration.
The surname has several recognised variants including *Mosegrave*, *Mosgrave* and the Welsh- and Gaelic-influenced forms *Musgráve*, *Mac Giolla Moisgreig* and *Mac Mhuiris*. In continental Europe, similar spellings such as *Musgrave*, *Musgraves* and *Mossgrave* occur in French usage. Related surnames that share the same root or have developed in parallel include *Grave*, *Groves*, *Gravet*, *Graves* and the personal names *Greaves* and *Whitgrave*. The variety of spellings, combined with the wide distribution of the name, reflects both its long history and the linguistic changes that have affected English surnames over the centuries.
Typical given names associated with the Musgrave surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Robert
Female
- Ann
- Christine
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Jane
- Julie
- Lucy
- Margaret
- Mary
- Michelle
- Patricia
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Musgrave in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 3,177 people named Musgrave in the UK. That makes it roughly the 2,849th most common surname in Britain. Around 49 in a million people in Britain are named Musgrave.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Musgrave
- Thea Musgrave - Scottish composer
- Joe Musgrave - Football player (1908 to 1)
- Andrew Musgrave - UK cross-country skier
- John Musgrave Tattersall-Musgrave - Cricketer (1845 to 1885)
- Rosamund Musgrave - Cross country skier
- Wenman Wykeham-Musgrave - World War II Royal Navy officer (1899 to 1989)
- Samuel Musgrave - Classical scholar and physician (1732 to 1780)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.