Updated June 9, 2019 Share: Family name origins & meanings English (Northumberland) : variant of Brace.North German (also Bräss) : nickname from Middle Low German brās ‘noise’, ‘pomp’, a related form of brāsch (see Braasch).German : topographic name from Brass ‘broom’, ‘gorse’, a common name element in the Lower Rhine and Ruhr.