First name origin & meaning: Irish: Native of Brittany First name variations: Bret, Bretton, Brit, Britt, Brette, Bretlin, Bhrett, Brente, Bhrett Last name origin & meaning: English and French: ethnic name for a Breton, from Old French
bret. The Bretons were Celtic-speakers driven from southwestern
England to northwestern France in the 6th century ad by
Anglo-Saxon invaders; some of them reinvaded England in the 11th
century as part of the army of William the Conqueror. In France and
among Normans, Bretons had a reputation for stupidity, and in some
cases this name and its variants and cognate may have originated as
derogatory nicknames. The English surname is most common in East
Anglia, where many Bretons settled after the Conquest. In Scotland it
may also have denoted a member of one of the Celtic-speaking peoples
of Strathclyde, who were known as Bryttas or Brettas
well into the 13th century.
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