Explore the Family Name Bretton

The meaning of Bretton

1. English (of Norman origin) and French: variant of Breton. 2. English: habitational name from any of the places called from Bretton in Derbyshire and Yorkshire, both of which mean ‘settlement of the Britons’, from Old English Brettas ‘Briton’ + tūn ‘enclosure, settlement’.

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

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

The surname Bretton has seen a slight decline in popularity over the decade from 2000 to 2010, according to data from the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, it was ranked at 63,812 with a count of 292 and a proportion of 0.11 per 100,000 individuals. However, by 2010, its rank had slipped to 74,141 with a count of 261 and a proportion of 0.09 per 100,000 individuals. This represents a change of -16.19 in rank and -10.62 in count.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#63,812	#74,141	-16.19%
Count	292	261	-10.62%
Proportion per 100k	0.11	0.09	-18.18%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Bretton

Analyzing the ethnic identity associated with the Bretton surname from the Decennial U.S. Census data, we see some interesting shifts between 2000 and 2010. There was no observable change within the Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native categories, with zero reported in both years. Those identifying as two or more races dropped from 2.40 in 2000 to none in 2010. The largest group, Whites, saw a slight decrease from 90.75 in 2000 to 90.04 in 2010. Meanwhile, Hispanics experienced a minor increase from 3.42 to 3.45 over the decade. The significant change can be observed in those who identify as Black, with an increase from 3.08 in 2000 to 4.98 in 2010, marking a substantial rise of 61.69.

	2000	2010	Change
White	90.75%	90.04%	-0.78%
Black	3.08%	4.98%	61.69%
Hispanic	3.42%	3.45%	0.88%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	2.4%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%