Brooks (surname)

Brooks
Family name
Meaning "residing near a stream or brook"
Region of origin England
Footnotes: [1]

Brooks is a surname of English origin, that is thought to have been derived from the condition of residing near a stream (or brook).[2] The Hundred Rolls, a late thirteenth century census of England and part of Wales, contains many uses of "Broke" and variants "Brock" and "Brok" as a surname.[2] The word "brook" derives from the Old English "broc" and appears in the Medieval predecessors of "Brooks" such as "Ate-Broc" and "Atte-Broc".[2][3][4] The surname is also found among English-speaking Ashkenazi Jews, deriving from the male Hebrew given name Boruch, meaning "blessed", a derivation that may also have contributed to its origins in medieval England and Wales. The surname arrived in North America from England in the mid-seventeenth century.[2]

The surname Brooks is shared by many notable people.

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See also

References

  1. ^ British surnames
  2. ^ a b c d (in English) (PDF) Origin and History of the Name of Brooks: With Biographies of All the Most Noted Persons of that Name. The Crescent Family Record. Chicago, Illinois (United States): American Publishers' Association. 2007-06-06 [1905]. http://books.google.com/books?id=cGE2AAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 2008-01-10. "The name of Brooks is said to have derived from residence near a stream." 
  3. ^ Harper, Douglas (November 2001). "brook". Online Etymology Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=brook. Retrieved 2007-01-10. 
  4. ^ "brook". Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language (1989 ed. ed.). New York: Portland House. 1989. pp. 189. ISBN 051768781X.