Breese Surname
Approximately 6,206 people bear this surname
Breese 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 SurnameBreese Surname Distribution Map
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 4,238 | 1:85,526 | 9,668 |
| England | 838 | 1:66,489 | 7,720 |
| Australia | 285 | 1:94,722 | 10,787 |
| Canada | 244 | 1:151,007 | 15,383 |
| Germany | 228 | 1:353,094 | 34,155 |
| Wales | 222 | 1:13,939 | 1,532 |
| New Zealand | 61 | 1:74,235 | 10,965 |
| Scotland | 16 | 1:334,614 | 15,044 |
| South Africa | 13 | 1:4,167,516 | 132,322 |
| Jersey | 10 | 1:9,920 | 2,003 |
| Thailand | 8 | 1:8,829,793 | 476,604 |
| France | 6 | 1:11,070,454 | 349,096 |
| Qatar | 6 | 1:393,000 | 55,922 |
| Mexico | 5 | 1:24,825,241 | 58,251 |
| Brazil | 3 | 1:71,358,111 | 770,017 |
| Russia | 3 | 1:48,041,019 | 639,186 |
| Indonesia | 3 | 1:44,083,065 | 698,220 |
| Belgium | 3 | 1:3,832,215 | 117,288 |
| Ireland | 2 | 1:2,354,470 | 19,715 |
| United Arab Emirates | 2 | 1:4,581,136 | 93,443 |
| Jamaica | 2 | 1:1,434,974 | 11,081 |
| Sweden | 1 | 1:9,846,757 | 347,448 |
| Switzerland | 1 | 1:8,212,915 | 156,297 |
| Sri Lanka | 1 | 1:20,808,560 | 18,521 |
| Singapore | 1 | 1:5,507,703 | 47,049 |
| Portugal | 1 | 1:10,418,241 | 25,048 |
| Ecuador | 1 | 1:15,905,846 | 50,210 |
| Austria | 1 | 1:8,515,435 | 118,036 |
| Denmark | 1 | 1:5,644,715 | 93,155 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ireland | 1 | 1:4,429,866 | 40,727 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 454 | 1:53,690 | 6,448 |
| Wales | 347 | 1:4,520 | 317 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 1,031 | 1:48,709 | 5,555 |
Breese (85) may also be a first name.
Breese 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
(Celtic) for the Welsh ab-Rees or ab-Rhys = Son of Rees or Rhys: v. Rhys [Welsh ab, son (of]
(Welsh) The son of Rhys (ardor, a rush).
(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.
A form of Brice, being the Norman-French pronunciation.
From the Old Norse, Bresi; from the Swedish, Braise; from the Danish, Bræs; from the Flemish, Brees; from the Dutch, Bres, Breys; from the German, Briese; a personal name.
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.
Breese Demographics
Breese Religious Adherence
in Ireland
Religious Adherence
in Ireland
Breese Last Name Facts
Where Does The Last Name Breese Come From? nationality or country of origin
The last name Breese is found in The United States more than any other country or territory. It can also occur in the variant forms:. For other possible spellings of this name click here.
How Common Is The Last Name Breese? popularity and diffusion
It is the 78,699th most frequently occurring family name throughout the world. It is borne by around 1 in 1,174,274 people. This surname occurs mostly in The Americas, where 53 percent of Breese live; 53 percent live in North America and 53 percent live in Anglo-North America. Breese is also the 1,039,322nd most frequently used first name internationally, held by 85 people.
The surname Breese is most widespread in The United States, where it is borne by 4,238 people, or 1 in 85,526. In The United States Breese is mostly concentrated in: Florida, where 5 percent reside, Ohio, where 5 percent reside and Texas, where 4 percent reside. Apart from The United States Breese occurs in 28 countries. It is also common in England, where 14 percent reside and Australia, where 5 percent reside.
Breese Family Population Trend historical fluctuation
The prevalency of Breese has changed over time. In The United States the share of the population with the last name increased 411 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it increased 185 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Wales it contracted 36 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Ireland it increased 200 percent between 1901 and 2014.
Breese Last Name Statistics demography
The religious devotion of those holding the Breese last name is principally Catholic (100%) in Ireland.
In The United States Breese are 19.06% more likely to be registered with the Republican Party than the national average, with 65.83% registered with the party.
The amount Breese earn in different countries varies greatly. In South Africa they earn 71.5% less than the national average, earning R 67,716 per year; in United States they earn 6.4% more than the national average, earning $45,912 USD per year and in Canada they earn 4.7% more than the national average, earning $52,018 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 Breese
- 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