Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
Brannock IrishOriginally taken from the Welsh place name
Brecknock. Medieval settlers brought this name to Ireland.
Bransby English (British)English locational name from the village of Bransby in Lincolnshire. The place name is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Branzbi' and later (1115) as 'Brandesby'. These recordings showing that the derivation is from the Old Norse personal name
Brandr meaning "sword" and
byr, the whole meaning being "Brand's village" or "homestead"... [
more]
Branting SwedishA combination of Swedish
brant "steep hill" and the suffix
-ing. A famous bearer was
Hjalmar Branting (1860–1925), Prime Minister of Sweden in the 1920s.
Bras French, DutchFrom Old French and Middle Dutch
bras "arm". This was probably a descriptive nickname for someone with some peculiarity of the arm, but the word was also used as a measure of length, and may also have denoted a surveyor.
Brasil PortugueseEthnic name for an inhabitant of Brazil, a country in South America.
Brassard FrenchDerivative of
bras "arm" most likely applied as a nickname denoting a person with strong arms or perhaps a pugilist.
Brasse EnglishLikely derived from the name of the village of Brace in Shropshire, England. The name of the village likely came from the Old English word
braec, which was used for small forests and thickets, or the later Old English word
braec, which was used for ground broken up for cultivation.
Brasseur FrenchFrench and English (of both Norman and Huguenot origin): occupational name for a brewer, from Old French
brasser ‘to brew’. See also
Brasher.
Bråthen NorwegianDerived from Old Norse
broti "land cleared for cultivation by burning". This was a common farm name in southeastern Norway.
Bratov RussianDerived either from Russian брат
(brat) meaning "brother" or from a short form
Brat of various Old Russian given names.
Brattén Swedish (Rare)Composed of the personal name
Bratt and the common surname suffix
-én (ultimately from Latin
-enius "descendant of").
Bratten Scottish (Anglicized)Anglicized form of the Gaelic surname Mac an Bhreatnaich ‘son of the Briton’, originally denoting a Strathclyde Welsh-speaking Briton. It was applied in Ireland also to people from Brittany.
Bratu RomanianRomanian surname; derives from "brat", the Slavic word for brother.
Brau ItalianMeaning uncertain, possibly from the dialectical term
brau, meaning "wild, untamed" in Sardinian and "brave, fierce" or "bull" in Catalan, or from
blau "blue, turquoise".
Bräunlich GermanOriginally a nickname for a person who had brown hair or skin, meaning "brownish" in German.
Braunschweig German, JewishDenoted a person from the city of
Braunschweig in Lower Saxony, Germany, which is of Old Saxon origin meaning "
Bruno's settlement".
Braunsteiner German (Austrian)This surname means brown stone in German and it may be an ornamental surname or an occupational surname for someone who may have been a miner.
Braxiatel Popular CultureIrving Braxiatel or Cardinal Braxiatel is a fictional character from the Virgin New Adventures—spin-off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. He subsequently became a regular character in novels and audio dramas in the Bernice Summerfield series... [
more]
Brayboy LumbeeThis name origin has roots in a court case in 1716 involving a slave named John. He was charged as "Jack Braveboy, a negro". The spelling Brayboy is scene in 1801 with Stephen Brayboy. It was identified as Native American in 1900 Indian Census Schedule of Robeson County, North Carolina.
Braybrooke EnglishFrom the name of the Northamptonshire village of Braybrooke, meaning "the broad brook."
Brayton EnglishDerived from the Old Norse name breithr meaning "broad", or the Old Norse personal name Breithi, combined with the Old English suffix
tun meaning "town, farmstead".
Breakspear EnglishFrom a medieval nickname for someone who had achieved notable success in jousts or in battle. Nicholas Breakspear (?1100-1159) was the original name of Pope Hadrian IV, the only English pope.
Brearley EnglishVariation of
Brierley possibly originating in Yorkshire, England. A well-known bearer is former English cricketer Mike Brearley.
Brecht GermanFrom a short form of any of various personal names formed with Germanic element
berth " bright" "famous".
Breed EnglishHabitational name from any of various minor places, for example Brede in Sussex, named with Old English
brǣdu "breadth, broad place" (a derivative of
brād "broad").
Breeding GermanFrom the Low German
brēde "open field". Denotes a person from such a place.
Breedlove EnglishProbably from a medieval nickname for a likable or popular person (from Middle English
breden "to produce" +
love). This surname is borne by Craig Breedlove (1937-), US land-speed record holder.
Bréhant BretonRefers to a place of the same name in Côtes-d'Armor.
Brehme GermanVariant form of
Bremer. German former soccer player Andreas Brehme (1960-) bears this name.
Breiding GermanFrom the name of a place in the Lippe area in northwestern Germany.
Breit GermanFrom Middle High German
breit meaning "broad". a nickname for a stout or fat person.
Breithaupt GermanNickname for someone with a broad head, from Middle High German
breit "broad" and
houbet or
houpt "head".
Breitkreutz Germanprobably a nickname for a person with a broad butt. Breitkreutz replaced an earlier more transparent form of the surname Breitarsch the use of
kreuz (literally "cross") as a euphemism for "buttocks" first occurring in the 17th century... [
more]
Breitzmann GermanEastern German topographic name for someone who lived by a birch wood, ultimately derived from the Slavic stem
bres "birch".
Bremer GermanIndicated a person from
Bremen in the State of Bremen, Germany.
Bremner ScottishDerived from the Scottish Gaelic name
MacGillebhàin which means "son of the fair-haired one." It is associated with the Clan Bremner, which has roots in the northern parts of Scotland.
Brenden NorwegianDerived from Old Norse
brenna "land cleared for cultivation by burning" (also known as
svedjebruk "slash-and-burn agriculture").
Brenna NorwegianVariant of Brenden, a Norwegian surname derived from
brenna "land cleared for cultivation by burning" (also known as
svedjebruk "slash-and-burn agriculture").
Brenner German, German (Austrian), JewishDerived from Middle High German
brennen "to burn". Both as a German and a Jewish name, this was an occupational name for a distiller of spirits. As a German surname, however, it also occasionally referred to a charcoal or lime burner or to someone who cleared forests by burning.
Brereton EnglishFrom the name of locations in Cheshire and Staffordshire, England. The name is derived from Old English
brér "briar" +
tún "enclosure, farmstead".
Bresnahan Irish (Anglicized)Reduced Anglicized form of Irish
Ó Brosnacháin (See
Brosnan). Roger Bresnahan (1879-1944) was an American player and manager in Major League Baseball.
Bresser EnglishThe surname is derived from the old English word brasian, meaning to make out of brass. This would indicate that the original bearer of the name was a brass founder by trade. The name is also derived from the old English Broesian which means to cast in brass and is the occupational name for a worker in brass.
Breton French, EnglishFrench and English: ethnic name for a Breton, from Old French
bret (oblique case
breton) (see
Brett).
Brevard FrenchFrench: nickname from Old French bref ‘small’ + the derogatory suffix -ard.... [
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Brevik NorwegianHabitational name from any of several farms named Brevik, from Norwegian
bred "broad" and
vik "bay".
Brewton EnglishVariant spelling of the habitational name Bruton, from a place in Somerset, so named with a Celtic river name meaning 'brisk' + Old English tun 'farmstead'.
Breyette English (American)Of uncertain origin and meaning. First found in the United States around 1880. Self-taught artist Michael Breyette is a bearer of this surname
Brezhnev m RussianDenoted a person from a village called
Brezhnevo. The most notable bearer was Leonid Brezhnev (1906-1982), a leader of the Soviet Union.
Br Ginting f BatakFeminine form of
Ginting. The
Br (short form of
beru, pronounced BUH-roo) part is a nickname for women in Bataknese, specifically in the Karo tribe.
Briatore ItalianThis surname originates from the province of Cuneo in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is probably derived from Piedmontese
brijador meaning "postilion, coachman", which itself is ultimately derived from Piedmontese
bria meaning "bridles, reins".... [
more]
Brickner GermanDerived from "brückenbauer," which means "bridge builder" in English. It was originally an occupational name for someone who built bridges. Over time, the name Brickner was likely shortened from Brückenbauer to its current form.
Bridon French (Rare)Patronymic surname derived from French
bride "bridle, harness", this name used to denote a maker or merchant of bridle, harness or horse-gear and more generally a saddler.
Bridson EnglishAnglicization of Mac Giolla-Bríghhde, contracted to Mac Bríghde.
Brier EnglishDerived from Old English
brer "briar, bramble", a topographic name for someone who lived near a briar patch, or a nickname for a prickly, irritable person.
Bright EnglishFrom a Middle English nickname or personal name, meaning "bright, fair, pretty", from Old English
beorht "bright, shining".
Brindle EnglishFrom the name of a town in Lancashire, England, derived from Old English
burna "stream, spring, brook" and
hyll "hill".
Brindley EnglishHabitational name from a place in England so named. From Old English
berned "burnt" and
leah "woodland clearing".
Briner German (Swiss)Habitational name for someone from Brin in Grison canton (Graubünden) or from the Brin valley.
Brinker German, DutchDerived from
brink "edge, slope" or "village green", indicating that the bearer of the surname lived near a prominent slope of land or next to the centre of a village.
Brinsley EnglishFrom a place meaning "brun's clearing" or "brown clearing" with the elements
brun "brown" and
leah "meadow, clearing".
Brinton EnglishEnglish locational surname, taken from the town of the same name in Norfolk. The name means "settlement belonging to Brun" - the personal name coming from the
Old English word for "fire, flame".
Brion FrenchRefers to any of several places of the same name. Derived from Gaulish
briga "height, hill" and the suffix
-one.
Brion GalicianRefers to a place of the same name from the province A Coruña in pre-Roman Galicia.
Briones SpanishThis indicates familial origin within the eponymous Riojan municipality.
Brisbane ScottishNickname derived from Old French
bris(er) meaning "to break" and Old English
ban meaning "bone". The sense of this hybrid name is not clear; it may have been used for someone crippled by a broken bone or for a violent man who broke other people’s bones.
Brissenden EnglishDerived from either of two places in Kent, England called
Brissenden (one near Frittenden and the other near Tenterden), both named with the Old English given name
Breosa (a byname derived from
bresa meaning "gadfly") and Old English
denn meaning "woodland pasture (for swine)".
Brito PortugueseThe Brito family has its original roots in the village of Brito, around 1033 of the Christian era, where Dom Hero de Brito, lord of many estates in Oliveira, Carrazelo and Subilhães, all located between the Ave River and Portela dos Leitões, a very rich region and where the Solar dos Brito was located.
Brizendine French, English, JewishDerived from a personal name, probably of Celtic origin (Latinized as Britus), which was borne by a 5th century saint, who succeeded St. Martin as bishop of Tours.
Brizuela SpanishThis indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the Castilian municipality of Merindad de Valdeporres.
Br Maharaja f BatakFeminine form of
Maharaja. The
Br (short form of
boru, pronounced BOH-roo) part is a nickname for women in Bataknese (except Karo tribe).
Broadhead English (British)From Middle Eglish
brod "wide, broad" and
heved,
hed "head, headland". Name for someone who lived by a broad headland.