Brouncker

This interesting and unusual medieval English name is of German origin and is from a personal compound name of pre 7th Century origins, "Brungar". The derivation is from the Old English or Old German "brun-gar", translated as "Brown-Spear", and a popular name prior to the Norman Invasion of 1066. The personal name is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 at "Brungarus", and the surname development includes Robert Brungor (1311, Suffolk), and William Brunker (1311, Suffolk), and William Brunker (1572, Wiltshire). In the modern idiom the variants include Brungar, Brunker and Brouncker. Among the sample recordings in London are the marriage between Francis Brunger and Mary Heath on February 26th 1627 at St. Dunstan, Stepney, and the christening of Marie, the infant daughter of John and Mary Brunger on May 29th 1636 at St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Brunger, which was dated 1275, in the Hundred Rolls of Norfolk, during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "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.