Brooksbank, Brooksby, Brookshank, Brookshaw, Bruck, Brucker, Bruckshaw (Eng) Descendant of someone who lived near a brook or someone who originally came from any of the places named for its brook.
Lower also reports that a child found abandoned by the side of a brook, wrapped in a napkin, was duly named ‘Napkin Brooker’ by the parish authorities.
Roger Brook is the British secret agent hero of a series of novels by Dennis Wheatley. Dorothea Brooke is the rather more complex heroine of George Eliot’s Middlemarch, which has been described as the best novel written in English.
Broster see BREWER.
Brougham (Eng) Descendant of someone who originally came from a place in Cumbria so-named because it was a ‘homestead near a fortress.’
Broughton (Eng) Someone who came from one of the several places so-named because it was a ‘settlement near a brook, or by a narrow hill, or by a fortified manor.’
Broun, Broune see BROWN.
Brouwer, Brower see BREWER.
Brown, Bronson, Broun, Broune, Browne, Brownson, Brunson (Eng) A reference to a person’s brown hair or skin.
Thomas Hughes waxes lyrical in Tom Brown’s Schooldays about the part that families named Brown have played in British history. He says that they may be ‘quiet, dogged an homespun’ but they have done as much for their country as the ‘Talbots, Stanleys, St Maurs, and suchlike folk.’
Another fictional schoolboy is William Brown, hero of many comic adventures written by Richmal Crompton.
Charlie Brown features with his dog Snoopy, not to mention his friends Linus and Lucy, in the strip-cartoon series Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz.
Chesterton’s Father Brown is a priestly detective in many short stories, who would probably have appreciated the epitaph for a dentist named John Brown which runs:
Stranger! Approach this spot with gravity!.
John Brown is filling his last cavity.
Brownie see BIRDSEYE.
Brownjohn (Eng) The name derives from a man named John who had brown hair.
Kingsley Amis comments in Ending Up: ‘Mr Brownjohn’s a good man.’ ‘Unbelievable name, that. I do very much wonder how he came by it – I should say, how his ancestor came by it.’
Brownnutt, Brownhut, Brownutt (Eng) A descriptive nickname, found also as NUTBROWN.
Brownsmith (Eng) Occupational name of a coppersmith.
Brownutt see BROWNNUTT.
Bruck, Brucker, Bruckshaw see BROOK.
Brugäre, Bruhiäre see BREWER.
Bruggen, Brugger see BRIDGE.
Brunson see BROWN.
Brunty see BRONTË.
Bruster see BREWER.
Bruttner, Brutton see BRETON.
Bryan, Bryant see BRIAN.
Bryce see PRICE.
Brydges see BRIDGE.
Brydson see KILBRIDE.
Buchanan (Scot) Descendant of someone who came from the Stirlingshire district of this name, ‘house of the canon.’
James Herbert writes, in his novel Sepulchre: ‘He was Alexander Buchanan, a suitably sturdy name for an underwriter whose firm, Acorn Buchanan Limited, had a ‘box’ on the floor of Lloyd’s of London and company offices near Fenchurch Street.’
Bucher see BUTCHER.
Buck (Eng) Probably a nickname for a lecherous man, though some professional connection with stags or goats is also possible. In some instances there may be a reference to residence near a ‘beech’ tree.
Warwick Deeping presumably had the American slang meaning of buck (‘dollar’) in mind when he wrote, in Sorrell and Son: ‘Buck! He did not like the name; it was both too male and too American.’
Bucket (Eng) A well-known character in the BBC television series Keeping up Appearances tries to deflect any derision that this name might evoke by insisting that it should be pronounced like the word ‘bouquet,’ as if it really referred to a bunch of flowers. Bouquet does exist as a French surname, along with its variants Bouquain, Bouquin, Bouquot, Bouquerel, but all are derived, according to Professor Albert Dauzat in his Dictionnnaire Etymologique des noms de famille et prénoms de France, from a word meaning ‘he-goat.’ Such names would have been given to a man who was especially lecherous. BUCKETT is normally taken to be a form of BURKETT, which also has the variants BUCHARD, BURCHATT, BURCHARD, BURCHETT, BURKARD, BURKART, BURKITT, BORKETT, BOCKETT, BUDGETT, BUTCHARD, BUTCHART. These derive from someone named Burgheard ‘fort-strong,’ an Old English personal name. However, G. Pawley White claims in his Handbook of Cornish Surnames that Buckett is from Cornish bos keth ‘dwelling of the serf.’
Students of detective fiction are familiar with Inspector Bucket, who appears in Dickens’ Bleak House in a relatively minor role. He is perhaps the first fictional detective. Dickens has him introduce himself by saying: ‘My name’s Bucket. Ain’t that a funny name?’
Buckingham (Eng) Descendant of someone who originally came from one of the places so-named because it was ‘Bucca’s homestead.’
Buckle, Buckell, Buckler, Buckles, Bucklesmith (Eng) Occupational name of a buckle-maker. However, Weekley suggests that Buckler may on occasion be a form of BEAUCLERK.
Bucklin see BUTLIN.
Bucksmith see SMITH.
Buddell, Buddle, Buddles see BEADLE.
Budgett see BUCKET.
Bugg, Buggey, Bugson (Eng) Descendant of Buggi, an Old Norse personal name meaning ‘fat.’ It can also derive from Welsh bwg, a word which can variously mean ‘bogy, bug-bear, ghost, scarecrow.’ Professor Weekley added the suggestion that Bugg might be a shortened form of Burghart, a Germanic name meaning ‘castle strong.’
The modern form of the name is slightly unfortunate, and Thomas Hood long ago commented:
A name – if the party had a voice –
What mortal would be a Bugg by choice.
As a Hogg, a Grubb, or a Chubb rejoice.
Or any such nauseous blazon?
Not to mention many a vulgar name.
That would make a door plate blush for shame.
If doorplates were not so brazen.
For a further disparaging comment by Matthew Arnold, see HIGGINBOTTOM.
In the 19th century an announcement in The Times that a Mr Bugg was changing his name to Howard led to a great deal of comment, including a debate in the House of Commons. As a direct result, James Finlayson published, in 1863, his booklet Surnames and Sirenames, the Origin and History of Certain Family and Historical Names with Remarks on the Ancient Right of the Crown to Sanction and Veto the Assumption of Names, and a Historical Account of the Names Buggey and Bugg.
Like Bugg itself, Bugson also comes in for its share of disapproval.