ORIGIN OF THE NAME
Brack is not a particularly rare name but it
can be traced back many hundreds of years.
It is most
likely to be of Scandinavian origin. Certainly some
of our ancestors were Normans who lived in the British Isles
and in the north of continental Europe. Some of the Bracks are directly
descended from settlers who came from Scandinavia
(probably Norway) to Britain and northern Europe.
Others settled in the territory now known as Normandy,
and later crossed to England with William the Conqueror
in 1066. The difference between Normans and Vikings is
technical; we call Normans the settlers; and vikings,
the pirates. Normans - men of the North - occupied
what is today French Normandy; they also reached the
Mediterranean Sea, rounding the Iberian Peninsula, and
Constantinople, by travelling overland from the borders
of the Baltic Sea.
Some sources say it is
an old Scottish surname on the east coast of Scotland from Berwick
to East Lothian. Jordanus Brac gave a piece of land to the church
of S.Mary and S.Kentigern of Lamark c. 1214. This land was
afterwards known as Braxfield, and gave title to the notorious
Lord Braxfield, one of the Judges of the Court of Session.
In 1511, William Brax and his son David Brax had a lease of
the eigth part of the Grange of Connan, and John Brak is on
record in 1522. Thomas Brack from Mandirstonne, 1673, and
four others of the name are on record, including Thomas Brack
from Heittoun, in 1690.
There are some people who believe
that Brack is an old Hebrew surname, meaning lightning. As in hebrew
there are no written vowels, the name is also read Barak.
Brackett
is a diminutive form of the English and German
occupational name Brack, which was the name that
described the master of hunting dogs, from the Middle High
German word bracke, and the Old French word brachet
which formed the English cognate. Prack is a German
variation. Brackner is an English variation. Cognate forms
include: Brac, Bracq, Braque, Braconnier, Braquennier, Bracco,
Bracchi, Braccaro. Other diminutive forms include Bracket, Brachet,
Braquet, Braconnet, Braconnot.
Source: http://www.enoch.com/genealogy/origins.htm
Nowadays the name Brack is present all around
the world: Norway, England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, France,
Switzerland, Canada, USA, New Zealand, Australia, and -
last but not least - Brazil and other southamericans countries.
We can find hundreds of people named Brack in
'WhoWhere?' Files, and in the White Pages of
telephone companies of the UK and USA.
ABOUT BVWWA
ORIGIN OF THE NAME
