Breece Surname
Approximately 2,662 people bear this surname
Breece Surname Definition:
Breese is a Welsh patronymic surname. Before surnames were common in Wales, people were known by patronyms - that is by reference to their male ancestors. For example, Gruffydd ap Helyin ab Owain, means Gruffydd, son of Heylin, son of Owain.
Read More About This SurnameBreece Surname Distribution Map
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 2,645 | 1:137,036 | 14,323 |
| England | 4 | 1:13,929,515 | 290,718 |
| Sweden | 3 | 1:3,282,252 | 190,759 |
| China | 2 | 1:683,660,783 | 30,601 |
| Norway | 2 | 1:2,571,143 | 95,402 |
| Australia | 1 | 1:26,995,701 | 270,794 |
| Canada | 1 | 1:36,845,591 | 464,108 |
| France | 1 | 1:66,422,722 | 504,397 |
| Monaco | 1 | 1:37,066 | 4,748 |
| Netherlands | 1 | 1:16,887,176 | 156,465 |
| Singapore | 1 | 1:5,507,703 | 47,049 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wales | 17 | 1:92,260 | 4,121 |
| England | 4 | 1:6,093,842 | 135,151 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 304 | 1:165,193 | 14,986 |
Breece (109) may also be a first name.
Breece Surname Meaning
From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history
Breese is a Welsh patronymic surname. Before surnames were common in Wales, people were known by patronyms - that is by reference to their male ancestors. For example, Gruffydd ap Helyin ab Owain, means Gruffydd, son of Heylin, son of Owain. Surnames were adopted as English influence increased in Wales. The majority of surnames were derived from patronyms. Thus John ap John, would become John Jones, or sometimes John John. In some cases the 'p' or 'b' from 'ap' or 'ab' was prefixed to the surname., creating surnames such as Bowen (from ab Owen) and Prichard (from ap Richard). Typically surnames beginning with a vowel would be prefixed with a 'b' and surnames that began with constants a 'p'. However, this was not always the case and is the source of surnames such as Bloyd (from ab Lloyd). Thus Breese is derived from a concatenation of 'ab' and the Welsh forename Rhys; and as such the surname is of the same origin as Price, Pryce, Preece and Prys.
It appears the surname arose predominately or only in Montgomeryshire and is heavily connected with the parish of Llanbrynmair, where the Breeses were yeoman farmers with a penchant for inter-marriage. The surname is still common in Montgomeryshire and Shropshire, but today is more often rendered Breeze. Breese family traditions state that there were two Breese families in Montgomeryshire, one being "Y Breesiaid Bloesgion" and rumoured to be French or Flemish in descent, likely changing their name to blend in.
It has also been suggested that this surname could derive from the old English 'breosa', meaning lively, but it appears there is no foundation for this claim.
Early Renderings include:Stolen from Fore bears
- Elizabth Bryes, widow of Llanbrynmair, 1586, Welsh Probates
- Robert Breese, of Poulton, Cheshire, yeoman, 1666, Cheshire Wills
(Welsh.) A contraction of Ap Reese, the son of Reese, or Rice (which see); so Bevan from Ap Evan, Brice from Ap Rice, etc. Brys, Welsh, agility, quickness; Bresse, local, a small territory in Burgundy, France.
The name of Breese or Breeze was represented in this county in the reign of Henry VIII. by a parishioner of Hackford called Breze (Bl.). The Norfolk name has probably not a common origin with the North Wales name of Breese, which is a contraction like Preece, of Ap Rees.
The North Wales name of Breese like Preece is a form of Ap Rees. Breeuse and Breeze are old Norfolk names, where it is probable they have had a different origin, Brese being the form in the time of Henry VIII.
Breece Demographics
Average Breece Salary in
United States
$43,282 USD
Per year
Average Salary in
United States
$43,149 USD
Per year
View the highest/lowest earning families in The United States
Breece Last Name Facts
Where Does The Last Name Breece Come From? nationality or country of origin
The last name Breece is held by more people in The United States than any other country/territory. It can appear as a variant:. Click here for further possible spellings of this surname.
How Common Is The Last Name Breece? popularity and diffusion
The last name is the 163,213th most frequently occurring last name in the world It is held by around 1 in 2,737,621 people. It is mostly found in The Americas, where 99 percent of Breece are found; 99 percent are found in North America and 99 percent are found in Anglo-North America. Breece is also the 900,062nd most commonly occurring given name world-wide, held by 109 people.
This surname is most prevalent in The United States, where it is borne by 2,645 people, or 1 in 137,036. In The United States it is primarily found in: Ohio, where 13 percent reside, Tennessee, where 11 percent reside and Missouri, where 8 percent reside. Not including The United States it occurs in 10 countries. It also occurs in England, where 0 percent reside and Sweden, where 0 percent reside.
Breece Family Population Trend historical fluctuation
The incidence of Breece has changed over time. In The United States the share of the population with the surname increased 870 percent between 1880 and 2014.
Breece Last Name Statistics demography
In The United States those bearing the Breece last name are 21.95% more likely to be registered Republicans than the national average, with 68.72% registered to vote for the political party.
Breece earn around the same as the average income. In United States they earn 0.31% more than the national average, earning $43,282 USD per year.
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Footnotes
- Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
- Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
- Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
- Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
- Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
- Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
- Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Breece
- To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on FamilySearch, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis