Middlebrooks
A habitational surname meaning someone who lived by or came from a brook in the middle of a place or settlement.
The #7,198 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 66,497 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Middlebrooks is an English surname built from Middle and brook, literally meaning “the brook in the middle” or “dweller by the middle brook.” It belongs to the large class of surnames taken from local landscape features, especially small streams. The final -s can reflect a plural or possessive-style ending, or simply be part of the inherited family name.
History
The name is found in English-speaking regions and later appears in North America, where it is recorded in 19th-century sources. Like many locational surnames, it likely arose independently in more than one place wherever a locally important brook was called the middle brook. Modern bearers are especially associated with the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century American name list records a Mr. Middlebrooks in Sharon, Connecticut.
From the historical record
“maines" (1614). Brink is also found at Manchester, Conn., and in Philadelphia ; Mr. Middlehook, at Wilton, Conn. ; Mr. Middlebrooks, at Sharon, Conn. ; Mr. Cource, at Thomaston, Me. ; and Mr. Corner, at Lowell, and in New York, Philadelphia, and To- ronto. Miss Corner is a popular English writer for the young. Rev.…”
— Suffolk Surnames (3rd ed.)