Brinn History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Brinn family

The surname Brinn 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 Brinn family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Brinn research. Another 135 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1510 and 1600 are included under the topic Early Brinn History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Brinn Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Brinn are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Brinn include Bryn, Brynn, Brin, Brinn, Bryne, Brine and others.

Early Notables of the Brinn family

More information is included under the topic Early Brinn Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Brinn Ranking

In the United States, the name Brinn is the 18,317^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Brinn migration to the United States +

Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Brinn, or a variant listed above:

Brinn Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Edward Brinn, who arrived in Maryland in 1677 3

Brinn Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

William Brinn, who landed in Virginia in 1702 3

Brinn migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Brinn Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. John Brinn, (b. 1840), aged 34, English fitter from Yorkshire travelling from London aboard the ship "Tweed" arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 4th September 1874 4
Mrs. Helen Brinn, (b. 1845), aged 29, English settler from Yorkshire travelling from London aboard the ship "Tweed" arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 4th September 1874 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Brinn (post 1700) +

Joseph E. Brinn, American basketball player and coach who played and coached for Trinity (1910-1913)
Seaman Andrew Brinn (b. 1829), Scottish sailor who fought in the American Civil War and was awarded the Medal of Honor, for his action aboard the USS Mississippi at Port Hudson on 14 March 1863
Sion D. Brinn (b. 1973), Jamaica-born former competition swimmer at the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2000 Summer Olympics
Brinn John Bevan (b. 1997), English silver medalist artistic gymnast at the 2015 World Championships

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html