Brayman History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Germany

The ancient German region of the Rhineland was the original home of the ancestors of the Brayman surname. Brayman was a local name, a type of hereditary surname that identified people by the places where they lived. Landowners were the first to use local names, and they often attached the prefix "von", meaning "of" or "from," to the surname. Often, the use of "von" was a mark of aristocratic birth. Local names are by far the most common style of German hereditary surname. Brayman was a name for someone who lived beside a marshy region. The surname Brayman originally derived from the Old German word Brede which referred to a marsh. Brayman is a topographic surname, a type of local name given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree.

Early Origins of the Brayman family

The surname Brayman was first found in the Rhineland, where the name emerged in mediaeval times as one of the notable families of the region. From the 13th century on, the surname was identified with the great social and economic evolution which made this territory a landmark contributor to the development of the nation. The name derives from the word "Brede," which describes an area of marshy land; Breymann or Breymeyer are variations of Bredemann or Breymeyer.

Early History of the Brayman family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Brayman research. Another 92 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1793 and 1794 are included under the topic Early Brayman History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Brayman Spelling Variations

One can encounter great variation in the spelling of surnames: in early times, spelling in general, and thus the spelling of names was not yet standardized; and later, spellings would change with branching and movement of families. Variations of the name Brayman include Breymann, Breyman, Breymeyer, Breymeier, Breymaier, Breimann, Breiman, Braymann and many more.

Early Notables of the Brayman family

Another 30 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Brayman Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Brayman migration to the United States +

Hundreds of thousands of Europeans, including many Rhinelanders, made the voyage to North America between the 17th and 20th centuries. It was an escape from religious persecution and poverty and also an opportunity for people to start over and own their own land. Most landed at Ellis Island, off New York before moving on to the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, and California. Some also landed in Canada and settled in Ontario, while others headed west to the prairie provinces. A study of passenger and immigration lists has shown a number of people bearing the name of Brayman, or one of its variants, reaching North America shores very early:

Brayman Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Mary Brayman, who landed in Virginia in 1701 1

Brayman migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Brayman Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Richard Brayman, who arrived in Canada in 1840

Contemporary Notables of the name Brayman (post 1700) +

Stephen A. Brayman, American politician, Mayor of College Park, Maryland, 2001- 2
J. B. Brayman, American politician, Independent Candidate for U.S. Senator from Virginia, 1964, 1966 2

Citations +

Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 17) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html