BRICK
Brick is an English surname whose earliest attestations date from the late twelfth - early thirteenth century. The name appears as Gilbert atte Brigge in the Surrey Names List of 1272, a record contemporary with the reign of King Edward the First. This form demonstrates the Old English root bric or brycg, meaning a bridge or causeway. As such, the surname may have been residential, designating a person who lived beside a bridge, or occupational, indicating a bridge–keeper, builder or other person involved in bridge construction or maintenance.
The surname has been preserved in a variety of medieval spellings, including Bricke, Brik, Bricket and the diminutive Brickell. These variants reflect the fluid orthography of Middle English and the tendency to add diminutive suffixes to surnames. The 1640 christening of John Bricke at St. Nicholas Cole Abbey in London and the 1626 marriage of Jane Brik to James Reade at St. Andrews by the Wardrobe further illustrate the persistence of the name in ecclesiastical records across the city.
Although the name derives from an Old English word, the surname Brick is associated with the British Isles as a whole and is noted in Welsh sources. The Welsh language, with its own naming conventions, was the vernacular of the region; however, the etymology of Brick remains firmly rooted in Anglo‑Saxon linguistic tradition. The source information also indicates the name may have Ashkenazic origins, arising from the Yiddish word brik, which likewise denotes a bridge. This dual heritage explains the appearance of the surname in both English and Jewish communities of the United Kingdom.
During the nineteenth century, William Brick, aged 30, left Liverpool aboard the ship Orphan bound for New York on 1 May 1846. His voyage as part of the Irish famine exodus reflects the broader pattern of migration that carried bearers of the name from the British Isles to the colonies. The persistence of the surname in such diverse contexts confirms its status as one of the earliest recorded English family names.
Typical given names associated with the Brick surname
Male
- Andrew
- Anthony
- Daniel
- Darren
- David
- Ian
- James
- John
- Michael
- Patrick
- Paul
- Peter
- Philip
- Thomas
Female
- Beth
- Cathy
- Claire
- Diane
- Emily
- Emma
- Julie
- Karen
- Margaret
- Mary
- Samantha
- Sarah
- Sharon
- Simone
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
- Bricka
- Brickey
- Brice
- Barick
- Borick
- Bricker
- Bricken
- Brickel
- Bric
- Birck
- Brickl
- Bricks
- Bricksey
- Brik
- Brike
- Brique
- Brisck
- Brix
- Bryck
- Brycki
- Bryk
- Bryke
- Berick
- Bri
- Brickby
- Bricket
- Brickin
- Brickle
- Brickly
- Brickon
- Brickus
- Brics
- Brika
- Brikci
- Bryks
- Barrack
- Barrick
- Birk
- Borg
- Bourke
- Brack
- Bragg
- Brigg
- Brook
- Brooke
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Brick in...
Braille
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Morse
-....-...-.-.-.-
Semaphore
There are approximately 596 people named Brick in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around nine in a million people in Britain are named Brick.
Origin: Celtic
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: Wales
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: Welsh
Famous people named Brick
- Max Brick - Diver
- John Gough Brick - -Canadian Anglican missionary (1836 to 1897)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.