This interesting surname is a variant of Brain, which is of Irish, Scottish and French origin, and has two possible sources. The first source is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic "Mac an Bhreitheamhan", meaning son of the judge, from "breitheamh", judge. The second source is locational, from a place called "Braine", in Normandy, of uncertain origin; the name from this source may have been introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066. The surname development since 1273 (see below) includes the following: Thomas Brayne (1462, Baldowy), David Brane (1477, Cawdor), Thomas Braine (1580, London) and Roger Brain (1601, Glenbervie). The modern surname can be found as Brain(e), Brayne and Brohoon. One David, son of John Braine and Margaret Guthre, was christened on December 1st 1684 at Brechin, Angus, in Scotland. The marriage was recorded in France of Jeanne Braine and Guillaume Rey on June 15th 1721 at Verdun-Sur-Garonne, Turn-et-Garonne. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alicia Brayn, which was dated 1273, The Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire, during the reign of King Edward 1, "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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