Family name origins & meanings
- English, French, and Catalan : from a diminutive of brun ‘brown’ (see Brown, Brun).
- German : from a personal name (Brunhard) composed with Old High German, Old Saxon brūm ‘brown’. But this is also a Waldensian name in Germany, in which case it is of French origin, see 1.
- A Brunet from the Charente Maritime region of France is documented in Montreal in 1663, with the secondary surname Belhumeur. Another, from the Perche region, is documented in Quebec city in 1667, with the secondary surname Létang. Other secondary surnames recorded are Bourbonnais, La Sablonnière, and Saint-André. A Calvinist from La Rochelle, with the secondary surname Bonvouloir, is documented in Quebec city in 1698.