Learn the meaning and origin of the last name Brown, and then use our genealogy resources to help find out more about the Brown family tree. Kimberly Powell is a professional genealogist and the author brown sugar stevia The Everything Guide to Online Genealogy.

She teaches at the Genealogical Institute of Pittsburgh and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. Brown is the second most common surname among African Americans in the United States. Some formerly enslaved people adopted the name Brown following the Civil War for the obvious reason that it described their appearance, however, there were also many who adopted the surname in honor of the North American 19th-century Black activist John Brown. Where in the World is Brown Surname Common? According to surname distribution data from Forebears, the Brown surname is most prevalent in the United States, although the name is also borne by the highest percentage of the population in the Pitcairn Islands. John Brown, born circa 1380, in Stanford Draper, Rutlandshire, England are two early Englishman with the recorded surname of Brown.

Molly Brown—Titanic survivor Margaret Tobin Brown, made famous by the 1960s musical, “The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Contrary to what you may have heard, there’s no such thing as a Brown family crest or coat of arms. Their Meanings—Smith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown. Brown Genealogy Society—A great collection of information on genealogies and histories related to the Brown surname.