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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • French : descriptive nickname, le Brun ‘the brown one’, from Old French brun, referring to the color of the hair, complexion, or clothing (see Brown). This name is also Catalan and Swiss (in the French as well as the German speaking parts).
  • North German and Scandinavian : nickname Germanic brūna ‘brown’, referring to the color of the hair, complexion, or clothing or from a Germanic personal name, Bruno, with the same meaning. See also Braun.

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