Bruno
A surname and given name from a Germanic root meaning “brown,” originally used as a personal name.
The #1,135 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 9,997 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Bruno goes back to an old Germanic personal name based on the word for “brown.” In the older sources, it is linked with Old Saxon and Old High German Bruno, and with English brown as a cognate. The name was first used as a byname or personal name before becoming a hereditary surname.
History
The name was in use in medieval Europe as both a given name and, later, a surname. It appears in early medieval records in forms such as Brun, Bruno, and related spellings, and spread widely across Germanic-speaking areas. In modern use, Bruno is especially familiar in Italian, German, French, and English contexts, often as either a surname or a masculine given name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same Germanic root that produced Bruno also lies behind the English word brown.
From the historical record
“whence also Brownson, q.v. In Domesday Brun appears as a per- sonal name ; cf^ German Bruno. Brown stands ^th among the surname* of England and Wales in point of numbers. Camel £1. Bran, c. Hen. I : E. and F.,”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances