Brackett last name popularity, history, and meaning

Find out how popular the last name Brackett is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Brackett.

Meaning of Brackett

An occupational surname for a maker or seller of leather armor or metal brackets and clasps.

Brackett, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Brackett surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Brackett in America

Brackett is the 3278th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Brackett surname appeared 11,027 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 4 people would have the surname Brackett.

We can also compare 2010 data for Brackett to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 3278 3156 3.79%
Count 11,027 10,458 5.30%
Proportion per 100k 3.74 3.88 -3.67%

The history of the last name Brackett

The surname Brackett is of English origin and is derived from the Old English word "bræc", meaning a thicket or dense undergrowth. It is believed to have first emerged as a surname during the 11th century, referring to someone who lived near or worked with thickets or dense vegetation.

The name can be traced back to the Domesday Book of 1086, which mentions several individuals with variations of the name, such as Bractot and Bracholt. These early spellings indicate that the name had already begun to evolve and take on different forms by the time of the Norman Conquest.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brackett can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire from 1195, where a William Brachett is mentioned. In the 13th century, the name appeared in various records, including the Feet of Fines for Essex in 1237, which references a Robert Brakete.

The name Brackett has also been associated with several place names in England, such as Brackett Farm in Berkshire and Brackett's Green in Essex. These place names likely originated from individuals with the surname Brackett who lived or owned land in those areas.

Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the surname Brackett. One of the earliest was Thomas Brackett (c. 1480 - c. 1550), an English politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Cricklade in 1542. Another prominent figure was John Brackett (1612 - 1663), an early settler in colonial Massachusetts and a founder of the town of Braintree.

In the 18th century, Joshua Brackett (1733 - 1804) was an American soldier and politician who served as a brigadier general during the American Revolutionary War. Later, Walter M. Brackett (1828 - 1919) was an American architect and designer who is known for his work on several notable buildings in Boston.

More recently, Charles Brackett (1892 - 1969) was an American novelist, playwright, and film writer who co-wrote the screenplay for the classic film "Sunset Boulevard" in 1950, for which he won an Academy Award.

While the surname Brackett has evolved over time and taken on various spellings, its origins can be traced back to the Old English word for a thicket, reflecting the occupations or living situations of its earliest bearers.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Brackett

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Brackett.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

  1. White only
  2. Black only
  3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
  4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
  5. Hispanic
  6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Brackett was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 83.24% 9,179
Non-Hispanic Black Only 10.69% 1,179
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.53% 58
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 1.29% 142
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 2.03% 224
Hispanic Origin 2.22% 245

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Brackett has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 83.24% 85.24% -2.37%
Black 10.69% 9.55% 11.26%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.53% 0.48% 9.90%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 1.29% 1.35% -4.55%
Two or More Races 2.03% 1.58% 24.93%
Hispanic 2.22% 1.81% 20.35%

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Brackett was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Brackett, please contact us.

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"Brackett last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on October 3, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/brackett-surname-popularity/.

"Brackett last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/brackett-surname-popularity/. Accessed 3 October, 2024

Brackett last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/brackett-surname-popularity/.

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