| ![Show Contents]() Brenn History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
Early Origins of the Brenn familyThe surname Brenn was first found in Lancashire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, Duke William, commissioned a census of all England to determine in 1086, settling once and for all, who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, 1 indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands of Thurnam, held by the King's steward, who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086. The village is now two villages, Upper and Lower Thurnham. Early History of the Brenn familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Brenn research. Another 135 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1510 and 1600 are included under the topic Early Brenn History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Brenn Spelling VariationsAnglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Bryn, Brynn, Brin, Brinn, Bryne, Brine and others. Early Notables of the Brenn familyMore information is included under the topic Early Brenn Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
 Brenn migration to the United States | + |
Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Brenn name or one of its variants:
Brenn Settlers in United States in the 17th Century- William Brenn, who settled in America in 1664
Brenn Settlers in United States in the 19th Century- Jacob Brenn, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1868 2
- William Brenn, who landed in Colorado in 1886 2
| Contemporary Notables of the name Brenn (post 1700) | + |
- Bruce M. Brenn (b. 1935), American businessman, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nike, Japan, recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette (2009), for his promotion of the study of Japan
- Charles F. Brenn, American Republican politician, Member of Connecticut State House of Representatives from Scotland; Defeated, 1918; Elected 1926 3
- Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
- 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 2016, February 1) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
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Brenn migration to the United States 
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