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What heritage is "Brown" last name?

8 Answers

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  • Maxi
    Lv 7
    8 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Heritage is what you inherit and a surname does not have heritage, it is a word and words come from languages and the word Brown is English, so any country in the World who had British influence you will find people named Brown.....however it may also be derived from another language like German or French...see below, so you don't research your genealogy by a surname, it is only one identifier of a person but not the only one...................

    Brown

    Recorded in many spellings from Brown, Broune, and De Bruyn, to Brauner, Bruni and Brunet, this ancient and prolific surname derives, from a pre 7th century Germanic and Anglo-Saxon word "brun" or the Olde Norse personal name "Bruni". Originally this name would probably have been a nationlistic or tribal nickname for a person with a brown complexion or hair, although it may also have referred to someone who habitually wore brown clothing, such as a monk or cleric. The baptismal name as Brun or the latinized Brunus, was a popular name in the period upto the introduction of surnames in the 12th century, see below. Irish name holders derive from 12th century Norman sources. In the west the Browne's are the descendants of a knight called " Hugo le Brun", amd form one of the ancient "Tribes of Galway", as recorded in the "Annals of the nine kings". The Browne's of Killarney form a separate branch and are descended from a later Elizabethan settler. Amongst the early surname recordings are those of Hugh Bron of Stafford, England, in the year 1274, and Hugo Brun of Erfurt, Germany, in 1407. Christopher Browne is recorded as being one of the very first settlers in the new American colonies. In the very first listing of the colonists of New England he is shown to be "living in Virginea, on February 16th 1623".The first recorded spelling of the family name anywhere in the world is probably that of William le Brun, which was dated 1169, in the Pipe Rolls of the county of Northumberland, England. This was during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The church builder", 1154 - 1189.

    Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/brown#ixzz2GTFtTT...

  • Anonymous
    8 years ago

    Brown Name Meaning

    English, Scottish, and Irish: generally a nickname referring to the color of the hair or complexion, Middle English br(o)un, from Old English brun or Old French brun. This word is occasionally found in Old English and Old Norse as a personal name or byname. Brun- was also a Germanic name-forming element. Some instances of Old English Brun as a personal name may therefore be short forms of compound names such as Brungar, Brunwine, etc. As a Scottish and Irish name, it sometimes represents a translation of Gaelic Donn.

    As an American family name, it has absorbed numerous surnames from other languages with the same meaning.

    Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4

  • 8 years ago

    The origin of a surname really hasn't anything to do with the Genealogy of a specific family. Names have been changed over the centuries and the Surname of a family today may have nothing to do with the history of the family or the origin of the surname.

    Brown is an English-language surname in origin chiefly descriptive of a person with brown hair, complexion or clothing. It is one of the most common family names in English-speaking countries.

    Source(s): Looked it up and am Genealogical researcher 40+ years; Anthropologists & retired Instructor
  • 8 years ago

    Brown can possibly indicate English, Scottish, Irish, or German ancestry and ordinarily comes from a nickname that refers to hair color or complexion. The Germanic surname "Brun" was often Anglicized as Brown by German immigrants. The Scots and Irish surname of Brown is also frequently a translation of the Gaelic surname "Donn" [or Dunn].

  • ?
    Lv 7
    8 years ago

    It varies, some Scots are named Brown. In Germany it is Braun.

  • Anonymous
    4 years ago

    No. The Republicans could elect to forget approximately that GW Bush truly exchange into the final Republican president. they could additionally elect to forget approximately the remarkable screw united statesthat he exchange into to blame for, like attacking a sovereign u . s . decrease than fake pretenses, incredibly Iraq.

  • Anonymous
    4 years ago

    What Heritage Is

  • Anonymous
    8 years ago

    I would say people from India for sure, or light skinned africans. For example, Mahatma Brown or LaQueesha Brown.

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