What’s In Your Name?

Check out the Dictionary of Last Names.

BROWNE :

English, form of Brown, derived from common nickname applied to one brown, or dark red, of hair or complexion, principally the latter. A few Browns refer to the ancestor named BRUN ‘brown,’ but this was not a common forename in England after the Conquest in 1066. The explanation for several different spellings or even several different nicknames with the same or similar meaning ascribed to one country is that they arose independently in different parts of the nation due to differences in regional dialect.