LeBrun
A French surname meaning “the brown one,” originally a nickname for someone with dark hair or a swarthy complexion.
The #8,479 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 79,369 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Le Brun comes from French le brun, literally “the brown.” In surname use, brun was a nickname for a person with brown hair, a dark complexion, or similar coloring. The surname is transparent in meaning and belongs to the large class of French descriptive bynames formed with the definite article le.
History
The name is long established in France and also appears in other French-speaking or French-influenced areas. Historical records show it in various orthographies, including the fused form LeBrun and the spaced form Le Brun. It also travelled beyond France through migration, commerce, and later emigration to North America and elsewhere.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same color word lies behind many surnames across Europe: English Brown, German Braun, and French Le Brun are close onomastic cousins.
From the historical record
“Le Breton. 140. 160 LeBrun.SO.95.175! Lo Bucrle. 177 Le Buse, 181”
— The Norman People and their existing descendants in the British dominions and the United States