Frequency: (43045)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Irish: Anglicized form (translation) of Breathnach ‘Briton’. It was used in particular to denote the Welshmen who arrived in Ireland in the wake of Strongbow's Anglo-Norman invasion of 1170.
GIVEN NAMES: Irish 5%. Brendan (30), Aileen (6), Dermot (6), John Patrick (6), Kieran (6), Declan (4), Eamonn (4), Colm (3), Donal (3), Seamus (3), Siobhan (3), Brennan (2).
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
