Britain Surname Meaning & Coat of Arms

Anyone researching Britain should also look under Brittain. The family name meaning is “A Breton”, the same as for Brittain.

• Similar-sounding surnames on Herald Lab: Bertin and Burtin.
• The Census Bureau's 2010 surname file lists Britain with 942 bearers, at rank 26,025. That puts it inside the top 50,000 US surnames.
• Spellings drifted because names were written down by ear in parish books, tax rolls and passenger lists.
• Related forms: Briton and Britton.
• Britain drops the “t” of Brittain, a shortening that clerks often made.

Heraldry and the Britain name

Arms linked to Brittain and its spellings were granted to individual families; our heraldry team traces which line they belonged to. Want more than a summary? See the Britain family name pack.