This name is of English locational origin from a place thus called in Northamptonshire. Recorded as Bradebroc in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Braibroc in the 1163 Pipe Rolls of that county, the name derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century "Brada" meaning "broad" (later "brae" and "braie"), plus "broc", a brook, hence, "the broad brook". The surname is first recorded in the latter half of the 13th Century, (see below). One John de Braybrock and a Robert de Braybrok appear in the Hundred Rolls of Buckinghamshire, dated 1275. The name is particularly well recorded in Northamptonshire Church Registers from the late 16th Century. On July 29th 1573, John son of George and Felicia Braybrooke, was christened in Burton Latimer, and on September 26th 1587 Richard Braybroke and Judith Ashland were married in the above Parish. Mary, daughter of Tinget and Elizabeth Braybrooks was christened at St. Botolph without Aldgate, London on October 14th 1759. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry de (of) Braybroc, which was dated 1273 - "The Hundred Rolls of Lincolnshire", 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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