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Updated August 14, 2024

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Family name origins & meanings

  • Scottish, northern Irish, and English : habitational name from Brackenrig in Lanarkshire, so named with northern Middle English braken ‘bracken’ (Old Norse brækni) + rigg ‘ridge’ (Old Norse hryggr), or from a similarly named place in northern England.
  • Alexander Breckenridge emigrated from northern Ireland to VA in about 1738. He had many prominent descendants, most of whom spelled the name Breckinridge.

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