BROWNLOW
Brownlow is an English locational surname that first appears in the British Isles. The name is derived from the Old English words brun, meaning “brown”, and hlaw, meaning “hill” or “mound”. Consequently, the surname literally translates to “brown hill” and identifies ancestor settlement near a brown-coloured hill or mound.
Historically, the surname is associated with several places in England, including a settlement near Astbury in Cheshire, Brownlow Green in the rural district of Cheshire, and Brownlow Fold in Bolton, Lancashire. It is common for families who moved from such localities to be designated by their former place of residence, a practice that made locational surnames widespread during the Middle Ages.
The earliest recorded spelling of the name appears in the Inner Temple records as that of Richard Brownlow, chief prothonotary of the court of common pleas, dated from 1553 to 1638. Early parish registers also list variations such as Brownloe, Brownloo, Brown(e)low, Brownlaw, and Brounlow. A marriage record from May 25th 1563 between Ralph Brownlowe and Jane Allanson in Standish, Gloucestershire, and a christening in May 1614 of a child named George Brownlow at St. Peter’s, Bolton, England, are further early attestations.
Coat of arms granted to the Brownlow family consists of a gold shield, an inescutcheon, and an orle of black martlets. In heraldry, a martlet denotes a person who subsists on wings of virtue and merit, signifying a noble who has limited land on which to settle.
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries the surname remained relatively rare, with a concentration in the counties of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, as well as across England more generally. British migration and the policies of the Empire carried the name to North America, Australia and Canada. Contemporary demographic data indicate that the most common modern localities for people bearing the surname Brownlow are in Northern Ireland and England; within the United States, the name is most densely situated in Tennessee.
Variations of the surname persist, reflecting regional dialects and spelling practices. These include Brownloe, Brownlo, Brownlowe, Browlow, Braunlow, and occasionally a terminal s, producing forms such as Brownlows. The variant spellings are typically due to the phonetic rendering of the Old English elements by local communities and the recorded clerks of parish and civil registries of the period.
Typical given names associated with the Brownlow surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Michael
- Peter
- Robert
- Stephen
- William
Female
- Alice
- Amanda
- Ann
- Denise
- Emma
- Karen
- Kathleen
- Laura
- Margaret
- Mary
- Melanie
- Rachel
- Rebecca
- Susan
- Victoria
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Brownlow in...
Braille
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Morse
-....-.---.---..-..---.--
Semaphore
There are approximately 1,241 people named Brownlow in the UK. That makes it roughly the 6,248th most common surname in Britain. Around 19 in a million people in Britain are named Brownlow.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Brownlow
- Warrick Brownlow-Pike - Puppeteer
- Kevin Brownlow - Filmmaker and film historian
- Katharine Brownlow - Rower
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.