Origin
Bray : 1: English: habitational name from any of the places in Berkshire and Devon. The former is probably named with Old French bray ‘marsh’ the latter from the Cornish element bre ‘hill’.2: English: perhaps a topographic name from northern Middle English bra ‘steep (river) bank’ or ‘brow of a hill’ denoting someone who lived at such a place.3: English (of Norman origin): habitational name from any of several places in Normandy or Picardy called Bray (Eure Calvados Aisne Somme); see 6.4: English: variant of Braye.5: Irish: from Ó Breaghdha denoting a descendant of a native of Bregia a territory in Meath.6: French: habitational name from (Le) Bray the name of several places in various parts of France named with Old French brai ‘mud mire’ (from Late Latin bracium a word of Gaulish origin). Compare Brais and Dubray.
Bradbeer : from Bradbury in Chittlehampton (Devon) recorded as Brodebray in 1407 and Badberie in 1621. The place-name is from Middle English brode ‘broad great chief’ + the river name Bray probably to distinguish this hamlet from South Bray in the same parish. A colloquial pronunciation of -bray as /bri:/ was presumably re-interpreted as a casual pronunciation of -beri -bury. The surname itself then underwent a reduction from -bery to -bere by association with the common Devon place-name ending -beare ‘grove’.
Brailey : English: habitational name from Brayley Barton in Devon which is named from the Bray river (a back formation from High Bray which is from Celtic bre ‘hill’ or Old English brǣg ‘brow’) + Old English lēah ‘woodland clearing’.
Brayford : from Brayford in Lincoln (Lincs) or Brayford in High Bray (Devon) or from a similarly named unidentified place. The Lincoln place-name is from Old Scandinavian breiðr ‘broad’ (replacing Old English brād) + ford ‘ford’; for the Devon name see Bray.
Dobree : of uncertain origin: perhaps an altered form of the French family name Debray which is either a regional name from the Pays de Bray north of Rouen or a locative name from one of the places called Bray (Aisne Calvados Loireet Nord Seine-et-Marne).
Dubray : 1: French: habitational name with fused preposition and definite article du ‘from the’ for someone from any of various minor places called Bray (see Bray).2: Altered form of French Dubreuil. This surname is common among Native Americans namely the Cheyenne River Sioux in SD.
Eyton : from Eyton (Shrops Denbighs) Eaton (Cheshire Leics Staffs) Eaton Bray (Beds) Cold Eaton (Derbys) or Long Eaton (Derbys).
Fulford : English:: 1: habitational name from one or more of the numerous places so named in Devon such as Fulford in Tiverton Great Fulford in Dunsford Fullaford in High Bray Fulford Bridge in Shebbear Fullaford in Sampford Courtenay and Fullaford in Buckfastleigh.2: habitational name from one or more of the various places so called elsewhere in England such as Fulford (Staffordshire) Fulford in Kingston Saint Mary (Somerset) Gate Fulford and Water Fulford (both East Yorkshire) Fulfords Farm in Itchingfield (Sussex) and Fulforth in Witton Gilbert (Durham). All places in 1 above and 2 are named from Old English fūl ‘dirty muddy’ + ford ‘ford’.
Gratten : 1: from Gratton in Alwington or Gratton in High Bray (both Devon). 2: see Gratton. 3: see Grattan.
Gratton : 1: English (Derbyshire and Staffordshire): habitational name from any of various places so named. Gratton in Derbyshire is from Old English grēat ‘great’ + tūn ‘enclosure settlement’. Gratton in High Bray Devon is probably ‘great hill’ from Old English grēat + dūn. A number of minor places in Devon are named from the dialect word gratton gratten ‘stubble-field’.2: French (mainly Vendée): from gratton a noun derivative of the verb gratter ‘to scrape’ denoting a dish prepared from melted pork goose or duck fat (ham) scraped from the bottom of the pot probably applied as a nickname for a cook.
Hawthorne : 1: English: habitational name from Hawthorne (Hill) in Bray (Berkshire) an altered form of Hothorne earlier Horethorn (Old English hār + thorn ‘boundary thorn(-tree)’. A common variant of the surname in 17th-century Bray and neighboring Binfield was Hathorne.2: English (Gloucestershire): topographic name for someone who lived by a hawthorn tree (Middle English hawthorn).3: English (Staffordshire): variant of Hordern a habitational name from Hordern (in Rainow Cheshire) Horderns in Chapel en le Frith (Derbyshire) Hordron in Langsett (Yorkshire) Little Hordern in Bolton le Moors (Lancashire) and perhaps from Hardhorn in Poulton le Fylde (Lancashire). All the placenames derive from Old English hord-ærn ‘storehouse’. By the early 17th century the surname had arrived in Staffordshire where it was sometimes re-interpeted as Hawthorne.4: Scottish (Wigtownshire): habitational name from Hawthorn in Easington (Durham) which derives from Old English haguthorn ‘hawthorn (tree)’. From Scotland it was taken to Ireland where this form of the surname is now found primarily in northern Ireland (Down).
Muxworthy : from Muxworthy in High Bray (Devon) which is recorded as Mixtewurthe about 1100. The place-name probably derives from Old English *mixten ‘dung hill’ + worð ‘enclosure’ alternating with worðig ‘enclosure’.
Rookley : from Rookley in Arreton (IoW) Rockley in High Bray (Devon) or Rockley in Ogbourne Saint Andrew (Wilts). The place-names all derive from Old English hrōc ‘rook’ (genitive plural hrōca) + lēah ‘wood woodland clearing’.see Rockley.
Twitchen : from Middle English twichen(e) ‘crossroads; place where two or more roads meet’ (Old English twicen(e)). The surname may be topographic for someone who lived in such a place or toponymic for someone from one of various places so named such as Touchen End in Bray (Berks) recorded as Twychene in 1274–75 Bonsey's Farm in Horsell (Surrey) recorded as Twichen in 1615 and home to the 1317 early bearer below and Twitchen (Devon). There are at least seven minor places in Devon named with the element six called Twitchen and one called Tutchenor. See also Titchener.
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
FANBI : The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain, ©2021, University of the West of England
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