Origin
Brown : 1: English Scottish and Irish: generally a nickname referring to the color of the hair or complexion Middle English br(o)un from Old English brūn or Old French brun. This word is occasionally found in Old French Middle English and Old Norse as a personal name or byname (Middle English personal name Brun Broun ancient Germanic Bruno Old English Brūn or possibly Old Norse Brúnn or Brúni). Brun- was also an ancient Germanic name-forming element. Some instances of Old English Brūn as a personal name may therefore be short forms of compound names such as Brūngar Brūnwine etc. As a Scottish and Irish name it sometimes represents a translation of Gaelic Donn (see below). Brown (including in the senses below) is the fourth most frequent surname in the US. It is also very common among African Americans and Native Americans (see also 5 below).2: Irish and Scottish: adopted for Ó Duinn (see Dunn) or for any of the many Irish and Scottish Gaelic names containing the element donn ‘brown-haired’ (also meaning ‘chieftain’) for example Donahue.3: Irish: phonetic Anglicization of Mac an Bhreitheamhnaigh; see Breheny.4: Americanized form (translation into English or assimilation) of various European surnames meaning ‘brown’ or derived from a word meaning ‘brown’ including the like-sounding German and Jewish surname Braun which is by far most common among them Jewish Bron and Slovenian Erjavec.5: Native American: translation into English and shortening of a personal name composed of a word meaning ‘brown’. In many cases however this surname was chosen because it is a one of the most common English surnames in North America (see 1 above).
Baio : 1: Italian: nickname for someone with light brown or reddish brown hair or beard from baio ‘bay (horse)’ (from Late Latin badius ‘red-brown’).2: Spanish: variant of Bayo with the same etymology as 1 above.
Balliet : French (mainly Alsace and Lorraine): altered form of Baillet a nickname for someone with light-brown or reddish-brown hair from a derivative of bai ‘reddish brown (of a horse's coat)’ from Latin badius. Compare Balliett and Balyeat.
Barna : 1: Hungarian: from a short form of the personal name Barnabás (see Barnaby 1) or a nickname from barna ‘brown’. Compare Barno.2: Polish and Slovak: from a derivative of local forms of the personal name Bernard or possibly a nickname from Polish dialect barna ‘harrow’. The Slovak name may also be of Hungarian origin (see 1 above compare 3 below).3: Ukrainian Rusyn Serbian and Croatian: nickname from barna a loanword from Hungarian denoting an ox (in Serbian and Croatian also a horse) of dark reddish brown or dark gray color or a surname of direct Hungarian origin (see 1 above).4: Italian: from the ancient Germanic personal name Barna or possibly from a short form of the personal name Barnaba (see Barnaby 1).
Bayard : 1: French: from Old French baiart ‘bay-colored’ a nickname for someone with reddish-brown hair. Compare 2 below.2: English (of Norman origin): from Bayard the name of the bright bay magic horse given by Charlemagne to Renaud in a 12th-century chanson de geste derived from Old French baiart (as in 1 above). It was subsequently used as a mock-heroic name for any horse particularly for a blindly reckless or foolish one. Applied as a nickname it probably denoted someone with a proud haughty or reckless disposition rather than someone with reddish brown hair.3: English (of Norman origin): perhaps occasionally from Old French bayard baiart ‘hand barrow used for heavy loads’ used possibly to denote a mason's laborer.
Bouras : 1: Greek: from Albanian burrë ‘man husband’. Compare Booras and Buras.2: French: from b(o)ure ‘frieze’ a type of coarse reddish brown woolen cloth with long hairs (from Late Latin burra ‘coarse untreated wool’) + augmentative suffix -as applied as a metonymic occupational name for a worker in the wool trade or perhaps as a nickname for someone who habitually dressed in brown. Compare Bourassa.3: Muslim (Maghreb): unexplained; likely non-Arabic.
Brauner : 1: German: from an ancient Germanic personal name a compound of Brun(o) + her ‘army’ or from an inflected form of or patronymic from Braun.2: German: from a term denoting a follower of the Brunones a dynasty of medieval (Lower) Saxony.3: German: habitational name for someone from Brauna near Kamenz Saxony or from Braunau in Austria.4: Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Brauner ‘the brown one’.5: Swedish and Danish: of German origin (see above).
Brooman : from the Old English personal name Brūnmann (from brūn 'brown' + mann 'man').
Brownell : English: topographic name for someone who lived ‘(by the) brown hill or corner of land’ from Middle English brun(e) broun(e) + hil ‘hill’ or hale ‘nook corner’ (Old English brūn + hyll or halh) or a habitational name from any of various places so named for example in Yorkshire Cheshire and Staffordshire.
Brownhill : English: habitational name from any of several places called in Old English as brūn hyll ‘brown hill’ or brūn halh ‘brown nook’. As a Yorkshire name it is probably from Brown Hill in Cartworth.
Brownie : English: nickname for someone with brown eyes from Middle English brun broun ‘brown’ + eie ‘eye’ (Old English brūn + ēage). This form of the surname is most common in Aberdeenshire.
Bruen : 1: Irish: variant of Breen.2: North German (Brün): from Middle Low German brūn ‘brown’ hence probably a nickname for someone with brown hair or a dark complexion or for someone who habitually wore brown clothes. Compare Braun and Brun.
Brunsdon : from the Middle English continuation of the Old English personal name Brūnstān (from brūn 'brown' + stān 'stone').
Brunson : English: usually from the Middle English personal name Brun (Old English Brūna or Old Norse Brúni) + -son ‘Brown's son’. See Brown. There may also be occasional survivals of an Old English compound personal name Brūnsunu ‘brown son’ attested in the Domesday Book and presumably given to a child with brown hair or complexion. Whether it was also used as an adult nickname is uncertain. This form of the surname is most common in Norfolk.
Brunwin : from the Old English personal name Brūnwine a late and rare Old English name from brūn 'brown' + wine 'friend'.
Burel : French: metonymic occupational name for a worker in the wool trade or perhaps a nickname for someone who habitually dressed in brown from Old French burel borel a diminutive of b(o)ure ‘frieze’ a type of coarse reddish brown woolen cloth with long hairs (from Late Latin burra ‘coarse untreated wool’).
Burnard : English (of Norman origin): from Burnhard ultimately from ancient Germanic brun- ‘brown’ + hard- ‘hardy brave’ used as a nickname for someone with dark brown hair or a swarthy complexion or occasionally like Burnel as a personal name.
Burnell : English (of Norman origin): from the Anglo-Norman French personal name Burnel a metathesized form of Old French Brunel originally a nickname for someone with brown hair or complexion.
Burnett : 1: Scottish and Irish (Tyrone and Antrim): descriptive nickname of Norman origin from Old French burnete a diminutive of brun ‘brown’ (see Brown) or possibly in some instances a metonymic occupational name for a maker or seller of burnete a high quality woolen cloth originally dark brown in color.2: Probably also an altered form of English Barnett.3: In some cases also an altered form of French Burnet; compare Burnette.
Dunleavy : Irish: shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Duinnshléibhe or Ó Duinnshléibhe ‘son of Donn Sléibhe’ a personal name composed of the elements donn ‘brown-haired man’ or ‘chieftain’ + sléibhe ‘of the mountain’ meaning ‘chieftain (literally brown one) of the mountain’.
Lillywhite : 1: English: nickname for someone with a complexion that was as ‘white as a lily’ (Middle English lilie). It was one much prized among the upper classes distinguishing them from the brown complexions of the lower classes who earned their living outdoors.2: Possibly an Americanized form (translation into English) of German Lilienweiss a nickname see above.
Lloyd : Welsh: descriptive nickname from Welsh llwyd ‘gray’. In Welsh the color term llwyd also includes shades of brown and it is likely that when used with reference to younger men llwyd denoted brown or mouse-colored hair.
McAleavey : Irish: Anglicized form of Mac Dhuinnshléibhe ‘son of Donnsléibhe’ a personal name meaning ‘chieftain (literally brown one) of the mountain’. Compare Dunleavy.
Moreau : French and Walloon:: 1: from the medieval personal name Morel from the Latin name Maurellus derived from Maurus ‘Moor’ (see Mauro compare Morel 1).2: nickname for a dark-skinned man from Old French morel ‘dark brown black’ a diminutive of moré ‘brown black’ (see More 2 compare Morel 2). Compare also Morrow.
Morel : 1: French and Spanish: from the medieval personal name Morel from the Latin name Maurellus derived from Maurus ‘Moor’ (see Mauro compare Moreau 1).2: French: nickname for a dark-skinned man from Old French morel ‘dark brown black’ a diminutive of moré ‘brown black’ (see More 2 compare Moreau 2). Compare also Morell 3 and Morrell 2.3: English: variant of Morrell 2 a cognate of 1 above.
Moreno : Spanish Portuguese and Jewish (Sephardic): nickname for someone with dark hair and/or a swarthy complexion from Spanish and Portuguese moreno ‘dark brown swarthy’ or ‘dark-skinned dark-haired’ from Late Latin maurinus a derivative of classical Latin Maurus ‘Moor’.
Nuss : 1: German: from Middle High German nuʒ ‘nut’ hence a metonymic occupational name for a gatherer and seller of nuts or a (sometimes derogatory) nickname for a man thought to resemble a nut in some way (for example in having a round head and a brown complexion).2: (Nüss): variant of Nies.
Nutt : 1: English: nickname from Middle English note nute notte nutte ‘nut’ (Old English hnutu) perhaps used for a man with a round head or a brown complexion.2: English: topographic name for someone who lived by a nut-tree from Middle English note nute notte nutte ‘nut’ (Old English hnutu) used also to denote the tree.3: Irish (Ulster especially Derry): shortened form of McNutt 1.4: North German: nickname for an industrious person from Middle High German nutte ‘useful efficient’.
Orpe : variant of Earp from an unrecorded Middle English *erp *orp ‘dark brown swarthy’ (Old English eorp with the stress in the diphthong shifted forward) .
Orzechowski : Polish: habitational name for someone from any of various places called Orzechów or Orzechowo named with orzech ‘nut’ ‘hazelnut’. It may also be a topographic name for someone living by a hazelnut tree or a nickname for someone with light brown hair from the adjective orzechowy ‘hazel’. Compare Ozark.
Pardo : 1: Spanish and Portuguese: nickname for someone with tawny hair from pardo ‘dusky brown dark gray’ (from Latin pardus ‘leopard’).2: Italian: from the personal name Pardo which can be of Greek origin (see 3 below) or a Lombardic variant of Bardo.3: American shortened form of Greek Pardos: from the personal name Pardos from pardos ‘leopard cheetah’.4: English: variant of Perdue.
Raposa : Portuguese:: 1: habitational name from Raposa a town in Portugal.2: nickname for a cunning person or else for someone with reddish brown hair from raposa ‘fox’. Compare Rapoza and Reposa.
Rudis : Lithuanian: possibly a variant of Rudys nickname for a man with brown or red hair from the adjective rudas ‘brown’.
Russett : 1: English (Gloucestershire): nickname from Middle English russet ‘reddish brown’ (from Old French rosset a diminutive of rous(e) ‘red’ from Latin russus ‘red’). This may have been a nickname for someone with reddish brown hair or a ruddy complexion but in Middle English russet also denoted a kind of reddish brown coarse woolen cloth typically worn by the poor and thus the name might have been a nickname for someone who made or sold such cloth.2: Altered form of French Rasset 1 reflecting the Canadian and American French practice of sounding the final -t. Compare Racette.
Sauro : 1: Italian: from sauro ‘sorrel’ (color usually of a horse) used as a nickname for someone with light brown hair and also as a personal name.2: Catalan (Sauró): nickname derived from saur ‘brown’ (from Latin saurus).
Sedgeman : from Middle English segge ‘sedge reeds’ + -man for someone who cut prepared sold or used sedge or reeds for thatching etc. The term is recorded in the medieval accounts of King's Hall Cambridge: ‘for wages of Brown seggeman for thatching walls 7d' (Salzman Building p. 226). Compare Sedger.
Soar : English:: 1: nickname for someone with reddish brown hair from Middle English sor(e) sour ‘reddish brown’ (Old French sor); compare Sorrell.3: topographic name for someone who lived in or by a muddy place from Middle English sour sore ‘mud slime’ (Old Norse saurr).2: variant of Sower.
Weisbrod : Jewish (Ashkenazic) and German: metonymic occupational name for a baker from Middle High German wizbrōt German Weissbrot ‘white bread’; compare Weisbecker. White bread would have been something of a delicacy in the Middle Ages when coarse brown bread was the norm. In some instances the Jewish surname is artificial.
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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
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