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

Brownell, 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 Brownell surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Brownell in America

Brownell is the 4984th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Brownell surname appeared 7,045 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Brownell.

We can also compare 2010 data for Brownell 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 Brownell

The surname Brownell is of English origin, derived from the Old English words "brun" meaning brown, and "hyl" meaning hill or ridge. It is believed to have originated in the 12th or 13th century as a descriptive name for someone who lived near or on a brown hill.

The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the Hundred Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1273, where it appears as "Brunhill" and "Brunhull". These early spellings reflect the name's origins as a place name before it became a hereditary surname.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, there are several entries for places with similar names, such as "Brunhill" in Berkshire and "Brunehill" in Warwickshire, suggesting that the name may have originated from these or similar locations.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname was John Brownell, who was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Northamptonshire in 1202. Another early bearer of the name was William Brownell, who was recorded in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1327.

Over time, the name evolved into various spellings, including Brownell, Brownhill, and Brownhills. One notable bearer of the name was Sir Thomas Brownell (c. 1550-1628), an English politician and Member of Parliament for Maidstone in 1601.

Another significant figure was George Brownell (1688-1765), a British Army officer who served as the Governor of the Bahamas from 1753 to 1758. In the United States, one of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname was Thomas Brownell, who was born in Massachusetts in 1624.

Other notable individuals with the surname Brownell include:

1. Pardon Brownell (1791-1859), an American politician and Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York.
2. Henry Howard Brownell (1820-1872), an American poet and literary critic known for his Civil War poetry.
3. William Crary Brownell (1851-1928), an American literary critic and author of several books on Victorian literature.
4. Herbert Brownell Jr. (1904-1996), an American lawyer and politician who served as the Attorney General of the United States under President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
5. Mercein Brownell (1909-2003), an American writer and journalist best known for her travel books and articles.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Brownell

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Brownell, 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!