as a Last Name
- 1,557,122
- people in the U.S. have this name Get contact details for people named Brown
Meaning & Origins
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 English and Old Norse as a personal name or byname. Brun- was also a 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. As an American family name, it has absorbed numerous surnames from other languages with the same meaning.
| 4th in the U.S. for 2011 |
Nicknames & variations
Quick facts
- Millions
- of people in the U.S have this name
- 1,557,122
- to be exact (as of February 2011)
- District of Columbia
- has the most people named Brown per capita
Top state populations
U.S. Distribution Map
