Bratton History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Etymology of Bratton

What does the name Bratton mean?

The Atlantic Ocean to the north and west and the English Channel to the south borders Cornwall, the homeland to the Bratton family name. Even though the usage of surnames was common during the Middle Ages, all English people were known only by a single name in early times. The manner in which hereditary surnames arose is interesting. Local surnames are derived from where the original bearer lived, was born, or held land. The Bratton family originally lived at the villages of Bratton Clovelly and Bratton Fleming in Devon. The name Bratton means the settlement by the brook. 1

Early Origins of the Bratton family

The surname Bratton was first found in Devon, where the name is associated with two villages, Bratton Clovelly and Bratton Fleming. In the Domesday Book survey of 1086 Bratton Clovelly was recorded as lands held by Baldwin the Sheriff while Bratton Fleming was held by the Count of Mortain and was the site of a swinery and sheep farms. Early in the history of the family name it branched to Dorset, where William de Bratton, also recorded as de Braton, was registered in the Pipe Rolls of 1195. 2

Some of the family may have originated in the village and civil parish of Bratton, near Westbury in Wiltshire as the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list Godfrey de Bratton as holding lands there in 1273. 3

Bratton Castle (Bratton Camp) is a bivallate Iron Age hillfort on Bratton Down.

One of the most famous and earliest records of the family was Henry de Bretton, Bratton or Bracton (d. 1268), the English ecclesiastic and judge and author of a comprehensive treatise on the law of England. "Three places have been conjecturally assigned as the birthplace of this distinguished jurist, viz. Bratton Clovelly, near Okehampton in Devonshire, Bratton Fleming, near Barnstaple in the same county, and Bratton Court, near Minehead in Somersetshire. The pretensions of Bratton Clovelly seem to rest entirely upon the fact that anciently it was known as Bracton. " 4

Early History of the Bratton family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bratton research. Another 59 words (4 lines of text) covering the year 1794 is included under the topic Early Bratton History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bratton Spelling Variations

Cornish surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. The frequent changes in surnames are due to the fact that the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules. The official court languages, which were Latin and French, were also influential on the spelling of a surname. Since the spelling of surnames was rarely consistent in medieval times, and scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings of their surname in the ancient chronicles. Moreover, a large number of foreign names were brought into England, which accelerated and accentuated the alterations to the spelling of various surnames. Lastly, spelling variations often resulted from the linguistic differences between the people of Cornwall and the rest of England. The Cornish spoke a unique Brythonic Celtic language which was first recorded in written documents during the 10th century. However, they became increasingly Anglicized, and Cornish became extinct as a spoken language in 1777, although it has been revived by Cornish patriots in the modern era. The name has been spelled Bratton, Braton, Brattone, Bratone, Bratten and many more.

Early Notables of the Bratton family

Notable amongst the family at this time was

Godfrey de Bratton, a prominent 13th century landholder in Wiltshire

Bratton Ranking

In the United States, the name Bratton is the 3,712^nd most popular surname with an estimated 7,461 people with that name. 5

Bratton migration to the United States +

The records on immigrants and ships' passengers show a number of people bearing the name Bratton:

Bratton Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Andrew Bratton, who arrived in New York, NY in 1812 6
John Bratton (1831-1898), born in South Carolina, enlisted in the Confederate Army upon the outbreak of the American Civil War and advanced rapidly through the ranks until he was appointed brigadier general in 1864. After the war he entered public life and was elected comptroller of South Carolina
Patrick Bratton who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1854
Richard Bratton, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1873 6

Contemporary Notables of the name Bratton (post 1700) +

Howard C. Bratton (1922-2002), United States federal judge
Lieutenant General Joseph K. Bratton (1926-2007), American Army officer and nuclear engineer, recipient of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit (2) and Bronze Star (2)
David H. Bratton (1869-1904), American gold medalist water polo player at the 1904 Summer Olympics
Heather Bratton (1987-2006), American fashion model, killed in a car crash after a photo shoot
Christopher Bratton, American educator, administrator, President of School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Robert Franklin Bratton (1845-1894), American politician, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 1st congressional district (1893 to 1894)
Brian Bratton (b. 1982), American-born, Canadian CFL football wide receiver, two-time Grey Cup champion
John Walter Bratton (1867-1947), American Tin Pan Alley composer and theatrical producer
Ben Bratton, American gold and silver medalist fencer at the 2010 and 2012 World Championships
Sam Gilbert Bratton (1888-1963), American politician, United States Senator from New Mexico (1925-1933)
... (Another 5 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)