Brees Surname
Approximately 2,750 people bear this surname
Brees 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 SurnameBrees Surname Distribution Map
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 1,345 | 1:269,486 | 25,328 |
| Lebanon | 463 | 1:12,175 | 1,751 |
| Belgium | 405 | 1:28,387 | 4,546 |
| Palestine | 293 | 1:15,525 | 2,721 |
| Iraq | 162 | 1:216,183 | 4,877 |
| England | 25 | 1:2,228,722 | 84,230 |
| Canada | 21 | 1:1,754,552 | 114,935 |
| India | 5 | 1:153,413,076 | 951,030 |
| Australia | 5 | 1:5,399,140 | 162,351 |
| Netherlands | 5 | 1:3,377,435 | 111,911 |
| France | 3 | 1:22,140,907 | 385,998 |
| Taiwan | 3 | 1:7,814,915 | 41,694 |
| Pakistan | 3 | 1:59,547,962 | 132,569 |
| Spain | 2 | 1:23,376,018 | 128,922 |
| United Arab Emirates | 2 | 1:4,581,136 | 93,443 |
| Mexico | 2 | 1:62,063,102 | 83,384 |
| Sweden | 1 | 1:9,846,757 | 347,448 |
| Switzerland | 1 | 1:8,212,915 | 156,297 |
| Venezuela | 1 | 1:30,204,077 | 85,459 |
| Yemen | 1 | 1:26,425,294 | 55,147 |
| Costa Rica | 1 | 1:4,780,069 | 13,345 |
| Kuwait | 1 | 1:3,800,694 | 27,187 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ireland | 1 | 1:4,429,866 | 40,727 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 58 | 1:420,265 | 24,785 |
| Wales | 44 | 1:35,646 | 1,944 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 315 | 1:159,424 | 14,594 |
The alternate forms: Breës (2) are calculated separately.
Brees (44) may also be a first name.
Brees 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.
Brees Demographics
Brees Political Affiliation
in United States
United States
Average
Brees Last Name Facts
Where Does The Last Name Brees Come From? nationality or country of origin
Brees is found in The United States more than any other country or territory. It may also be rendered in the variant forms: Breës. Click here for other potential spellings of this last name.
How Common Is The Last Name Brees? popularity and diffusion
Brees is the 158,756th most frequently used last name internationally, borne by approximately 1 in 2,650,017 people. This last name is primarily found in The Americas, where 49 percent of Brees are found; 49 percent are found in North America and 49 percent are found in Anglo-North America. Brees is also the 1,525,482nd most numerous forename in the world. It is borne by 44 people.
The surname is most prevalent in The United States, where it is held by 1,345 people, or 1 in 269,486. In The United States Brees is most common in: California, where 13 percent are found, Iowa, where 10 percent are found and Nevada, where 9 percent are found. Not including The United States it is found in 21 countries. It is also found in Lebanon, where 17 percent are found and Belgium, where 15 percent are found.
Brees Family Population Trend historical fluctuation
The prevalency of Brees has changed over time. In The United States the number of people bearing the Brees last name rose 427 percent between 1880 and 2014 and in England it declined 57 percent between 1881 and 2014.
Brees Last Name Statistics demography
The religious adherence of those carrying the last name is predominantly Anglican (100%) in Ireland and Sunni (60%) in Lebanon.
In The United States those holding the Brees surname are 16.87% more likely to be registered with the Republican Party than the national average, with 63.64% being registered to vote for the political party.
The amount Brees earn in different countries varies notably. In United States they earn 2.35% more than the national average, earning $44,165 USD per year and in Canada they earn 20.15% less than the national average, earning $39,674 CAD per year.
Phonetically Similar Names
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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 Brees
- 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