Bratton
A habitational surname from several English places called Bratton, literally meaning a “farmstead” or “settlement” associated with broom or a similar shrub.
The #3,809 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 33,198 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Bratton is a locational surname, taken from one of several English places called Bratton, especially in Wiltshire and Somerset. The place-name is generally explained from Old English elements meaning “broom” or a similar shrub plus tūn, “farmstead, estate, settlement.” In other words, it originally meant a settlement where broom grew, or a farm by broom-covered land.
History
Medieval records in the excerpts show people styling themselves “de Bratton,” which is the normal way a place-name became a surname. Because there were multiple Brattons in England, the surname could arise independently in more than one county. It is still best understood today as an English habitational name rather than a single-family surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is a good example of how many English last names began as a simple address: “John of Bratton” eventually became just Bratton.
From the historical record
“London, I, 4, oj FliilsdclpMit, o, 3, 5. Bratton.— Local, ' of Bratton," a chapelry in the parish of West- bury, CO. Wilts. JiAn de BiKtion, CO. Som^., t Edv. Ill : Kirby'i Quen, p. 148.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances