Browne
de Brún · the brown one
Browne is de Brún in Irish, said deh BROON, and means the brown one.
Norman, from le Brun, the brown one, and Gaelicised early as de Brún. One of the fourteen Tribes of Galway, and the Brownes of Kenmare and of Westport are the same stock. Plenty of Irish Browns are no relation to them: Brown is among the commonest surnames in England and in Scotland, and it arrived here that way too, by settlement and by ordinary migration, most of all around Dublin. The spelling is a weak hint at best, though the old families tend to keep the e.
How it changes
- A man: de Brún
- His daughter: de Brún
- A woman who married into it: Bean de Brún
- The family together: de Brún
Where it comes from
Galway, Kerry and Mayo
Also spelt
Browne, Brown, Broun, le Brun
A name, not a pedigree
This is where the name came from, which is not the same as where you came from. Names were translated, anglicised, taken on by tenants and neighbours, and carried in by settlers who were no relation to the family that started them. To follow your own line, the 1901 and 1911 censuses are free and searchable, and give the county each person was born in.