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

Brattain, 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 Brattain surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Brattain in America

Brattain is the 39117th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Brattain surname appeared 563 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Brattain.

We can also compare 2010 data for Brattain 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.

The history of the last name Brattain

The surname BRATTAIN has its origins in Scotland, where it first emerged in the 12th century. It is derived from the Old English word "bræt", meaning a broad piece of cloth or garment. This suggests that the name may have originally referred to a weaver or someone who worked with textiles.

One of the earliest recorded references to the name BRATTAIN can be found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which recorded the names of Scottish landholders who swore allegiance to King Edward I of England. This document mentions a John Brataine from Berwickshire.

In the 14th century, the name appears in various spellings such as Brattan, Brattane, and Bratton in records from Ayrshire and Lanarkshire. These variations likely reflect the regional dialects of the time.

A notable bearer of the BRATTAIN name was Sir William Brattain, a Scottish knight who fought alongside Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. He was granted lands in Perthshire for his bravery and loyalty.

Another prominent figure was John Brattain (c. 1510-1589), a Scottish clergyman who served as the Archbishop of St. Andrews and played a significant role in the Scottish Reformation.

In the 17th century, the name spread to Northern Ireland and parts of England, where it was sometimes anglicized to Bratton or Bretton. One example is Thomas Brattain (1620-1678), an English Puritan minister who emigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony and became a prominent figure in the early days of colonial America.

The BRATTAIN name also has a connection to the American inventor Walter Houser Brattain (1902-1987), who was co-inventor of the transistor, a revolutionary development in electronics. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1956 for this groundbreaking work.

Over the centuries, the BRATTAIN surname has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, including farmers, merchants, soldiers, and scholars, reflecting the diverse histories and experiences of those who bear this name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Brattain

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

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 Brattain was:

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 Brattain has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

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 Brattain was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!