Bray
A surname with both Norman place-name roots and English local ties, especially to places called Bray in Normandy and Berkshire.
The #1,003 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 8,845 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Bray is usually explained as a locational surname, from places called Bray in Normandy and England. The Norman place-name is often connected with Old French brai, meaning 'mire' or 'mud,' though some writers also allowed a personal-name explanation in certain cases. In England, the surname could also arise from Bray in Berkshire or other local places of the same name.
History
The old surname books record Bray as a Norman name carried into England after the Conquest, and they also note English place-name origins for some families. Lower specifically mentions a well-known Bray family descending from Sir Reginald Bray of Henry VII's time, while other bearers may have taken the name from local places in Berkshire or elsewhere. Because there is more than one possible source, different Bray families do not necessarily share the same origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One famous historical association is with the 'Vicar of Bray,' the name attached to a Berkshire parish and a proverb about changing one’s principles to suit the times.
From the historical record
“BRAUND. See Brand. BRAY. This name occurs in all the copies of the so-called Roll of Battel Abbey, and that a great family so designated migrated from Normandy at the period of the Conquest seems pretty certain. Three places in that province are still called Brai ; two in the arrondissement of Falaise,. and one in…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom