Brack
A surname with several possible roots, including a shortened form of Brake/Bracq and, in Manx usage, a word for “trout.”
The #9,108 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 86,049 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Brack is not straightforwardly one-name-one-origin. In some sources it is treated as a shortened or variant form of Brake or Bracq, with Bracq itself linked to an older Germanic personal name often explained as meaning something like “renown” or “fame.” Other traditions connect Brack with Manx breck/brack, a word for “trout,” originally referring to a speckled fish. Because the evidence points to more than one plausible source, the surname is best treated as having mixed or uncertain origins depending on the family line.
History
19th-century surname writers noticed Brack as both a surname form and as a variant related to Bracq/Brake in continental and English records. In Manx place-name material, Brack appears as a local word meaning “trout,” which shows how a surname could also arise from regional vocabulary or nicknames. Modern bearers of the surname may therefore descend from different historical lines, not necessarily a single original family.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In Manx place names, Brack could mean “trout,” as in names referring to fishing spots or stream valleys.
From the historical record
“MDB. (W. Ri.1. Yorki), j, o ; Phitadet Braakenberry,Brack«nbiiTT, Brabenbury.— Local, * of Brack- enbury,' a pariah in co. Lincoln, R^hert'de'fir^comberijh, co. York. »”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances