Explore the Family Name Brenton

The meaning of Brenton

English (Cornwall and Devon): habitational name primarily from Brenton near Exminster, possibly named in Old English as Brȳningtūn ‘settlement (Old English tūn) associated with Brȳni’ (a personal name from Old English bryne ‘fire, flame’).

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Brenton in the United States?

According to the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Brenton saw a slight shift between 2000 and 2010. In the year 2000, it was ranked as the 14,530th most popular surname, while by 2010, it had slightly dipped in rank to 14,827th. Despite this decrease in popularity ranking, the number of people carrying the Brenton surname actually increased from 1,881 in 2000 to 1,999 in 2010, marking a 6.27 percent increase.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#14,530	#14,827	-2.04%
Count	1,881	1,999	6.27%
Proportion per 100k	0.7	0.68	-2.86%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Brenton

When looking at the ethnicity of individuals with the Brenton surname based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, there were some notable changes between 2000 and 2010. The largest demographic, those identifying as White, decreased from 90.64 percent in 2000 to 87.39 percent in 2010. Meanwhile, those identifying as Hispanic saw a substantial increase, going from 1.75 percent in 2000 to 3.80 percent in 2010. There was also an increase among those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander (0.32% to 0.55%), those identifying as Black (4.78% to 5.30%), and those identifying as American Indian or Alaskan Native (1.17% to 1.30%). The group identifying with two or more ethnic identities also increased from 1.33 percent to 1.65 percent during the same period.

	2000	2010	Change
White	90.64%	87.39%	-3.59%
Black	4.78%	5.3%	10.88%
Hispanic	1.75%	3.8%	117.14%
Two or More Races	1.33%	1.65%	24.06%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	1.17%	1.3%	11.11%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.32%	0.55%	71.88%