Words

Good morning

greeting, attested 15th century
A standard greeting used before noon.
Interesting claims

The "Good Mourning" reading

A popular internet theory claims the greeting conceals "good mourning," tied to mourning the nightly death of the sun. Others extend it to a prayer to the "morning star," identified in some readings of Isaiah 14:12 with Lucifer. Widely shared in occult-etymology videos and conspiracy forums.

Assessment: No historical source supports this. It is a modern phonetic coincidence presented as hidden meaning.
Stories

A blessing shortened from a longer prayer

A gentler folk version holds that the phrase descends from fuller blessings such as "God give you a good morning," genuinely common in medieval English, with the invocation later dropped.

Assessment: Consistent with how "goodbye" formed, but the exact parent phrase is not documented.
Documented

A formulaic wish, like "good day"

The record shows a family of time-based greetings: good morrow, good day, good even. "Morning" comes from Old English "morgen," the -ing likely added by analogy with "evening." The greeting simply wishes the hearer well.

Assessment: Supported by the Oxford English Dictionary and standard etymological references.
Sources and further reading
  1. OED, good morrow and good morning attestations, 15th century
Worth asking

If a greeting can sound like grief, what else in your daily speech sounds like something it never was?

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GR8YFILES · competing origin stories, labeled by the strength of their evidence · readers 14+