The Scottish surname Murdock, also found in northern Ireland, is an anglicized form of the Gaelic personal names Muire(adh)ach, a derivative of muir meaning “sea” and Murchadh meaning “sea battler.’ The name is usually translated as ‘Mariner.” The name is first recored in Scotland in 1175 and was brought to Ireland by Scottish settlers in the 16th and 17th Centuries. The name is first recorded in the New World in 1706 when Peter Murdock arrived in Virginia. Today there are approximately 19,000 bearers of the name Murdock living in the United States.