280 BRAINE members around the world

BRAINE Family History

This interesting surname is a variant of Brain, which is of Irish, Scottish and French origin, and has two possible sources. The first source is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic "Mac an Bhreitheamhan", meaning son of the judge, from "breitheamh", judge. The second source is locational, from a place called "Braine", in Normandy, of uncertain origin; the name from this source may have been introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066. The surname development since 1273 (see below) includes the following: Thomas Brayne (1462, Baldowy), David Brane (1477, Cawdor), Thomas Braine (1580, London) and Roger Brain (1601, Glenbervie).